GW-SEAS Microgravity Team Flies Aboard NASA's "Weightless Wonder"
Each year, NASA selects a small number of university teams from across the nation and invites them to the Johnson Space Flight Center in Houston, Texas, where they have the once-in-a-lifetime chance to board the "Weightless Wonder," a micro-gravity airplane, and conduct tests in micro-gravity conditions on experiments of their own design.
In the summer of 2010, Micah Foster, a rising senior at SEAS learned about the NASA Microgravity University program and made it his personal goal to lead a team of SEAS students to participate in this highly competitive program. He formed a team, and with their SEAS faculty advisor, Professor Charles Garris, they put together a project proposal to test the Plateau-Raleigh Instability in microgravity. In late 2010, NASA announced that it had accepted 14 teams into the program for the following summer, and the GW-SEAS team was one of the 14.
In June 2011, the four SEAS undergraduates who comprised the GW-SEAS team headed to Houston for a week of preparation, training, and their chance to fly on the "Weightless Wonder." After finishing their flights, team member Hannah Stuart posted the following note on the team's Facebook page: "Flying is awesome!!! . . . Our team was energetic and robust throughout both flights. . .We had the time of our lives--gravity is overrated."
Team members include: Micah Foster, Hannah Stuart, Andrew Breest, and Danielle Barsky.
Note: See the video produced by the ZeroGW team or visit the team's facebook page.
Note: All photos below are courtesy of NASA.
