DLR Portal - Parabelflug

DLR's new RSS feed URLs

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 09:20:00 +0200

The URLs of all DLR RSS newsfeeds have changed. You may find an overview of these news feeds here: http://www.dlr.de/rss_en. The RSS feed of the Top News is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/DLR_top_en. Please update your bookmarks and feedreader settings.

A moment of weightlessness: 3D virtual visit to the parabolic flight aircraft A300 ZERO-G

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:30:00 +0200

This panoramic view of the Airbus A300 ZERO-G captures a moment of weightlessness on a parabolic flight. You can scroll across the image horizontally and vertically by holding down the mouse button or by using the arrow keys. The test equipment is secured to the aircraft cabin. A number of researchers are using floor-mounted lashings to prevent themselves from floating away from the equipment.

Motion sickness during parabolic flights

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:40:00 +0100

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) connects every first-time flyer to measuring equipment on each parabolic flight. During the flight programme that concluded in March 2010, the equipment recorded how motion sickness indicators manifested themselves on first-time flyers experiencing weightlessness on board the Airbus A300. In this interview, DLR researcher Dr Bernd Johannes explains why these data are important for astronauts.

From Cologne/Bonn to weightlessness - Ten years of scientific parabolic flights by DLR

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 11:30:00 +0200

From 7–21 September 2009, the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) will perform, for the 14th time, a series of research flights to provide weightlessness conditions, using the Airbus A300 ZERO-G. The event will also celebrate ten years of activity for DLR’s parabolic flight programme for microgravity research.

Tenth anniversary for DLR's parabolic flights

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 10:50:00 +0100

From 2-14 February 2009, the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) is carrying out its thirteenth parabolic flight campaign using the Airbus A300 ZERO-G. The world's largest flying laboratory takes off from Bordeaux Airport for a total of four flights that enable research in weightless conditions. Scientists use these flights to conduct 16 experiments in Biology, Human Physiology, Physics, Materials Research and Technology.

DLR as an albatross - Biologist Dr Ulrike Friedrich manages parabolic flights on behalf of DLR

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:00:00 +0100

"When the aircraft enters weightless conditions and you are lifted up from the floor and start to float, huge amounts of excitement hormones are released in your body", enthuses Dr Ulrike Friedrich. In her capacity as manager for parabolic flights at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR), she is in a position to award this feeling of exhilaration to scientists, by selecting their research proposal for inclusion in a parabolic flight campaign. This is the third in a series of portraits on the DLR Web Portal.

Tenth plasma crystal experiment series on board the ISS

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 10:40:00 +0100

For the tenth time, a series of experiments investigating complex plasma crystals is being conducted using the 'PK-3 Plus' facility (Plasma Crystal Experiment) on board the International Space Station (ISS). Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik; MPE) in Garching hope that these experiments will help them to gain a deeper knowledge of the physics of dusty ionised gases, the so-called complex plasmas. Among other things, the fluid properties of such complex plasmas are being investigated.

22 seconds – and many months: the long way to doing research in weightlessness

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 10:00:00 +0200

Olympia Kyriopoulos does research on fluid mechanics and heat transfer. Certain effects come into play that can only partly be investigated in a laboratory on Earth, where they are influenced by gravity. Therefore, Olympia Kyriopoulos needed to conduct experiments in weightlessness as well. "It was a childhood dream come true for me," she writes about her parabolic flight. She does not just describe the exciting moments spent in weightlessness, but also the long way to get there...

Independent research in weightlessness - interview with Dr Peter Preu on DLR's parabolic flights

Mon, 22 May 2006 12:18:00 +0200

For the past six years, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) has conducted a highly successful parabolic flight campaign using an Airbus A300 aircraft, dubbed 'Zero-G'. In this interview, Dr Peter Preu, head of the Life and Physical Sciences Department of DLR's Space Agency in Bonn, talks about the flight campaigns and onboard research.

Eighth parabolic flight for the DLR - Airbus A300 ZERO-G on its second visit to Germany

Thu, 11 May 2006 16:50:00 +0200

In May 2006 the German Aerospace Center (DLR) is carrying out its eighth parabolic flight with the Airbus A300 ZERO-G. The world’s largest flying laboratory will take off from Cologne-Bonn Airport before performing a total of five research flights in zero gravity. The aircraft will fly up to 31 parabolas during each flight, producing around 22 seconds of weightlessness. Scientists will use these vital seconds to carry out research in biology, human physiology, physics and materials research.