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How NASA creates zero gravity on earth Tell a Friend |
How does NASA create weightlessness on earth?The "Vomit Comet" travels in a parabolic path beginning at 24,000 feet. It then climbs rapidly at a 45 degree angle in a maneuver called "pull up".Next, it traces the peak of a parabola, "pushover", then descends at a 45 degree angle, "pull out". Click here to see NASA's official site on the KC-135 airplane in a new window. During the brief crest, the plane and its passengers both experience free fall which provides the microgravity environment within the plane. Each period of microgravity only lasts about 15-30 seconds, but the plane usually flies about 40 such parabola's each flight.
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