22 seconds of weightlessness on board the A300 ZERO-G
22 seconds of weightlessness on board the A300 ZERO-G
DLR's parabolic flights normally consist of three flight days – of about three to four flight hours each – during which 31 parabolas are flown. In a parabolic flight, the aircraft first climbs steeply from horizontal flight before the pilot cuts the thrust of the turbines, causing the aircraft to follow a parabolic flight path. This creates conditions close to complete weightlessness (microgravity) for approximately 22 seconds. A flight campaign therefore offers a total of about 35 minutes of microgravity, alternated with the Earth's standard gravitational acceleration on the one hand, and twice that standard gravitational acceleration on the other.
