Today was one of those days. You know the ones that you think were just some kind of a dream that you’ve woken up from? Nope. It was all real. My teammates and I boarded the ZeroG plane at NASA’s Ellington Field an took off toward the Gulf of Mexico. The plane completed 32 parabolas and each time the plane headed downward, we felt reduced gravity. We were on the plane to complete an experiment that our students have been collaborating on over the past six months. Even though we’re from four different states, on opposite sides of the country, we used Google Hangout, Twitter, Facebook, Google Docs, and even a blog to bring our classrooms together. We tested the absorbency of fabrics on Earth and in microgravity. The five best moments of the experience today?
1.) Watching the water shoot out of the syringe and seeing a tiny glob of water stick on the end. The little drop just dangled on the syringe. It didn’t have gravity bringing it down.
2.) Seeing the water hit the wool. Since wool seems to have a low absorbency, the water created a sphere that stuck to the wool and the moment the plane went back up for the next parabola and we were experiencing hypergravity, the sphere fell to bottom of the glove box.
3.) Looking down and seeing my feet, dangling in the air over our experiment. It was strange to be mid-air, suspended, with no effort, and to see your feet just hanging.
4.) Experiencing what happened when I let my tiny stuffed fox, our school mascot, go. He floated right in front of my face.
5.) On the very first parabola, just as we crested the top and started to go down, we all just gently rose up to the top of the plane. It’s a feeling that I really can’t even describe, but even better than I imagined it would be.
A video of our experience today, with cameras shooting inside the glove box.
While these moments were all awesome and memorable, none are as GREAT as the people I’ve been lucky enough to spend this with. These 4 teachers, who I was fortunate enough to meet at Advanced Space Academy last summer have shown me what being a team is truly about. There is no way I would have had today’s experience without them. Collaboration? It’s awesome and leads you to new places.. even the kind of places where you feet don’t touch the ground.