If a weekend break on earth doesn’t take your fancy, perhaps this might: a full day programme of training with a qualified, experienced astronaut followed by a zero-gravity experience inside a G-Force One aircraft.

Though non-space zero-g experiences are still costly, they are now more widely available to the general public than ever before. Originally developed in order to train astronauts, they are achieved through parabolic flight, which involves flying up and down in a series of waves, or parabolas, between around 24 and 34,000 feet. The parabolic shape can be varied to generate Lunar (a sixth of Earth’s) and Martian (a third of Earth’s) gravities as well as total zero-g, and all of these are gone through as part of the experience.

Based at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, the day begins with a training session from an expert. Then you meet the aircraft – a Boeing 727-200 specially modified to perform parabolic manoeuvres, and lined (thankfully) with a cushioning material to make it look rather like a cylindrical padded cell.

Each period of weightlessness lasts around 30 seconds and around fifteen parabolic manoeuvres are performed during a ninety-minute flight. Thirty seconds seems longer than you might think, and besides flying about and performing somersaults like an ecstatic superhero, you can enjoy popping a water balloon or chasing drifting M&Ms around the cabin. Photographic and video evidence of your weightless antics is included in the price.

Written by  larapiegeler.

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