Question: can u define vomit comet

Charles Laing answered on 14 Jun 2016:

Hi 542tch52,

A ‘vomit comet’ is the slang name for a Zero Gravity Parabolic Flight so-called because many people get sick on it as our body is not used to the experience. As space physiologists we use this to create weightlessness conditions to explore how the human body reacts to space without having to actually travel there.

A Zero Gravity plane is like a normal plane but all the seats have been removed and padding has been placed inside on all the walls (it’s not fun to bounce around on hard walls!). In order to create weightlessness the plane climbs very steeply upwards and then downwards in an ‘n’ curve shape – see here:

At the top of the arc the plane begins to speed to the ground at the exact same rate of gravity and this causes everyone inside to float. It is similar to a roller-coaster climbing a hill and then dropping giving you the feeling of your stomach rising to your mouth – you may have already experienced weightlessness even if it was just for a fraction of a second!

On a parabolic flight it lasts a little longer but we still are only weightless for 30 seconds because the plane can’t continue as the ground gets in the way! 😂 In that 30 seconds we can complete great science and measure the physiological responses of our human subjects. In one complete parabolic flight the pilot usually completes around 30 arcs giving 30 times the feeling of weightlessness over a 2 hour flight.

Charlie 😀🚀