ZERO-G, and I feel medicated…

March 02, 2008—Brevard County, home to the Kennedy Space Center, is banking on space tourism to help make up for some of the revenue lost when the Space Shuttle is retired. One company is Zero-G, which takes up paying customers in a jet to experience weightlessness. So, I was invited to take a test drive.

I produced a feature following the flight for NPR's All Things Considered Saturday. I'm updating my entry so you listen in by clicking here...

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=87829750

Space enthusiasts probably caught the twist in the title of this blog. It was a take-off on John Glenn’s first words once reaching orbit. Along with a blue jump suit for my microgravity flight on a 727 jet operated by the Florida based Zero-G corporation, I was given a dose of a prescription motion sickness medication. I was told it’s standard for people who go up.

Oh boy.   

Now, imagine the big fishbowl with the ping pong balls inside that the lottery department uses to pick the winning numbers. You know how those balls bounce around inside the fishbowl? Well, substitute people for the ping pong balls, and you’ve got a pretty good picture of what happened aboard Zero-G’s aircraft called “G-Force One”. Still, the trip went smoothly for me and the educators on board including teacher Michelle Personette of Titusville (in the top photo). They took up experiments to inspire the kids. 

So on the day of the Zero-G , we were broken up into groups, each with a “coach” to brief us on what not to do during the trip up. The list included things like looking from side to side while entering weightlessness, which can prompt nausea.

Oh boy.

The meds left me a little loggy, but considerably better than the three people on our flight who really did toss their cookies due to the effects of weightlessness.

Before anyone asks, no I’m not a big fan of roller coasters. In fact, my wife has to put a knife at my back to get me on the log flume ride at Walt Disney World. Before you judge me too harshly, I’m constrained to point out that my distaste for roller coasters is shared by former astronaut Eileen Collins. During a press briefing, she admitted “they scare me.”  I took along a recorder and microphone to cook up stories for 90.7 and NPR. I’ll let you know when they’re set to air.

BTW, I had a thoroughly enjoyable time talk to local history teachers at the Orange County Regional History Center on Saturday. I asked to talk about my book “Final Countdown, and how it might be a useful tool in history classes. Copies are available at the Center's giftshop, local bookstores, amazon.com, and “Scientific American’s” book club, which can be found at…

http://www.sciambookclub.com/doc/full_site_enrollment/detail/fse_product_detail.jhtml?repositoryId=903808B450

More to come…

Photos courtesy of Zero-G