Growing up, I never dreamed of becoming an astronaut. I never dressed up as one for Halloween or pretended my bed was a spaceship. Playing with my Lego space shuttle was enough for me.

However, I was always fascinated by one element of space travel: weightlessness. So when I found out that a couple of area teachers would be going up on a zero-gravity flight, I jumped at the chance to cover it. When I found out I’d be able to actually participate in the flight and experience weightlessness myself, I could hardly contain myself.

The teachers were taking part in Northrop Grumman’s Weightless Flight of Discovery, which allows science and math teachers to experience zero-gravity flight and share the experience with their students.

On Oct. 2, I arrived at the Hyatt Dulles at 6:45 a.m. along with a handful of other reporters and about two dozen teachers from Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington.

We were each given a flightsuit (so my Halloween costume is already taken care of) and a set of color-coded socks that determined which group we’d be in during the flight.

After a small breakfast — low in protein and acid, to reduce the likelihood of an upset stomach — we sat down for a briefing on what to expect, including three rules: No kicking, no swimming and no jumping.

The boarding was not unlike the boarding for any flight, but inside the plane, the changes were more noticeable. Other than about 10 rows of seats in the back of the Boeing 727, there was no seating at all. Rather, the front two-thirds of the plane had a bare, padded floor and heavy-duty padding on the walls.

After about 40 minutes in the air, each group’s leader came around and collected our shoes —  no one wants to get hit in the face by a flying shoe.

We then moved to a specified area of the padded portion of the plane and were warned that the first “parabola” would soon begin.
Weightlessness is gained by flying through a series of parabolas — not unlike driving up and down a series of hills.

The plane would dive as low as 24,000 feet before quickly ascending 32,000 feet and then repeating. As you reach the top and begin to descend, you feel reduced gravity or, depending on the angle of descent, no gravity at all.

On our flight, there were 15 parabolas — one to re-create gravity on Mars, two to re-create lunar gravity and 12 to show zero-gravity.

Strange sensations

As the jet ascended, we lied flat on the floor and I felt a strange sensation. The weight on my chest lightened — and then kept on lightening.

When I rolled over, it was much easier than usual, which makes sense because on Mars, you’d be one-third your weight.

To demonstrate, they had us do pushups. I couldn’t help wishing that pushups had been this easy when I played high school sports.



The second time through, lunar gravity, was even stranger. When you push off the ground, it takes a little longer to come back down. I did a handstand for the first time in my life.

On the fourth go-round, the feeling was almost indescribable. I pushed off the floor to try to stand up — and kept on going until I hit the ceiling.

It’s as if you’re flying. Suddenly, you can do back flips and front flips and all sorts of acrobatics. You also can’t stop giggling, because, really, it’s like you’re a kid again.

It’s also easy to see why the three rules — no kicking, no swimming, no jumping — are in place. Even a slight push off the floor while weightless sends you careening toward the ceiling, so a jump could easily result in a concussion.

As for kicking and swimming, you can’t help but try both. After all, you’re trying to move around and, since it feels like you’re in a pool, you try to maneuver in the same manner.

The problem is, there’s no water to displace, so by kicking or swimming, you don’t move, you just risk nailing your neighbor in the head or body.

While the flight was supposed to be educational, there was a fair share of horsing around. Teachers tried to play catch with each other — literally. They tried to drink water as little globs of water floated through the air. They even tried to eat an airborne M&M. It’s surprisingly difficult.

I still don’t want to be an astronaut. But I’ll envy them more than ever when I see pictures of them floating around the space station.

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