Flight Week
Wednesday:
Today we left at 3:30am to make the 14 hour road trip to Houston. Five people and our project piled into a full-size van. After a quick stop at the 24 hr Wal-Mart we took off. We arrived in Houston and checked in to the hotel a little after 6:00pm. Early to sleep as our first day at NASA starts at 7:30am!
Thursday:
We arrived early at Ellington Airfield today and checked-in to the program. We met our principal investigator Heather for the first time. After a morning full of briefings the final build of our experiment began. We ran into a few snags but were able to stop at a hardware store for everything we needed. We were held in the hanger on "lightning lockdown" until almost 6:00pm.
All of the teams and the staff from NASA met for a dinner and to socialize after the first day was complete.
Friday:
The morning was spent in physiological training in the mission control building at Johnson Space Center (JSC). We spent about 4 hours learning about how the body senses motion and how to prevent motion sickness. We also learned about hypoxia which is lack of oxygen to the brain. These were important to understand so we don't get sick while flying and we are prepared for the hypobaric chamber.
In the afternoon we toured the Neutral Bouyancy Lab (NBL). The NBL is the huge pool that contains mock ups of the ISS and space shuttle. Astronauts suit up and practice all the operations they will perform while in space. The astronauts are weighted just right so they don't float up or sink down. For every hour planned in a space walk, the astronauts practice in the pool for at least six.
We were also able to experience the hypobaric chamber. The hypobaric chamber simulates altitude by removing oxygen from the environment. We first learned about all the equipment we would be using and the safety procedures. We were fitted with oxygen masks and "snoopy" caps so we looked very Top Gun-esque. We hooked up to the equipment and pre-breathed pure oxygen to minimize the nitrogen in our blood. After 30 min of that, we started the ascent. Around 8000 ft the air inside the chamber condensed and a thick fog formed. When we reached 25,000 ft, half of us took of the oxygen masks and experienced oxygen deprivation. We were asked to complete a worksheet of simple problems and document our signs of hypoxia. Symptoms ranged from euphoria to lethargy to hyperventilation. Everyone seemed to notice that the 5 minutes seemed like about 30 seconds.
Saturday/Sunday:
We all had the weekend off from thinking about our upcoming project. Some people went to downtown Houston to explore while others stayed around the hotel to relax.
On Sunday we all drove to Galveston to hang out on the beach. After a couple hours it was time to head back as we had the opportunity to attend the welcome home reception for the most recent space shuttle. There the astronauts summarized some of what happened on the last flight and was a neat experience for us.
Monday:
Today was a big day to determine our ability to fly our experiment or not. The Test Readiness Review (TRR) consists of around 20 NASA engineers questioning every detail of your project to ensure everything is completely safe to be flown. The questioning lasted between 5 and 20 minutes depending on the project.
After we passed the TRR, the afternoon was spent loading the experiment onto the Zero G plane. One of the bolt attachment holes was off so 3 instead of 4 bolts could be aligned and used. We needed to do a quick stress calculation to prove that 3 bolts would be just as safe.
Tuesday:
FLIGHT DAY!!! We started with a morning briefing and anti-nausea video. We took medication to help with motion sickness and we were off to the plane. Our flight plan was 28 lunar, 1 martian gravity, and 3 zero gravity. The different gravity levels are obtained by flying very precise loops called parabolas over the Gulf of Mexico. The plane ascends and descends at 45 degree angles.
The experience is hard to put into words. Everyone lays on the floor of the aircraft during the 2G section. The first "over the top" into lunar gravity I pushed off the floor with just my arms and hit the ceiling of the plane! Bouncing around in 1/6 G is like being attached from the ceiling by big rubber bands. It really took a few parabolas to be able to function well in the environment. Our experiment worked flawlessly and we had a few extra parabolas to relax and have some fun. The martian gravity was very similar to lunar but with 1/3 gravity. Next came the zero. The feeling of floating was incredible. Your instinct is to try to "swim" through the air but it doesn't work at all. The direction you start in is the direction you go until you basically run into something else.
Wednesday:
The second group of fliers was scheduled today. They took off in the morning and came back about an hour later with zero parabolas under their belt due to visibility issues. Tentatively scheduled for later that afternoon. The flight ended up being scrubbed Wednesday with low probability of flying on Thursday :( Our faculty advisors took off in the afternoon for Nebraska with Dr. Nelson not being able to fly in reduced gravity. Thanks for all your help and I hope it can work out next year!
Thursday:
The day is cold, windy, and rainy.... doesn't look good for a flight today either. After the briefing and another round of meds, the flight is postponed until late morning. Fortunately the weather held off long enough for the flight. Turbulence was bad and the flight did need to be cut a few parabolas short which is too bad but on the bright side we all flew and we got all the data we needed. The afternoon was filled with all kinds of tours of the Johnson Space Center facilities....VIP style.
Friday:
Today was the long trip back to Nebraska. Pictures will be posted shortly and a zip file of all media will be made available soon.
Today we left at 3:30am to make the 14 hour road trip to Houston. Five people and our project piled into a full-size van. After a quick stop at the 24 hr Wal-Mart we took off. We arrived in Houston and checked in to the hotel a little after 6:00pm. Early to sleep as our first day at NASA starts at 7:30am!
Thursday:
We arrived early at Ellington Airfield today and checked-in to the program. We met our principal investigator Heather for the first time. After a morning full of briefings the final build of our experiment began. We ran into a few snags but were able to stop at a hardware store for everything we needed. We were held in the hanger on "lightning lockdown" until almost 6:00pm.
All of the teams and the staff from NASA met for a dinner and to socialize after the first day was complete.
Friday:
The morning was spent in physiological training in the mission control building at Johnson Space Center (JSC). We spent about 4 hours learning about how the body senses motion and how to prevent motion sickness. We also learned about hypoxia which is lack of oxygen to the brain. These were important to understand so we don't get sick while flying and we are prepared for the hypobaric chamber.
In the afternoon we toured the Neutral Bouyancy Lab (NBL). The NBL is the huge pool that contains mock ups of the ISS and space shuttle. Astronauts suit up and practice all the operations they will perform while in space. The astronauts are weighted just right so they don't float up or sink down. For every hour planned in a space walk, the astronauts practice in the pool for at least six.
We were also able to experience the hypobaric chamber. The hypobaric chamber simulates altitude by removing oxygen from the environment. We first learned about all the equipment we would be using and the safety procedures. We were fitted with oxygen masks and "snoopy" caps so we looked very Top Gun-esque. We hooked up to the equipment and pre-breathed pure oxygen to minimize the nitrogen in our blood. After 30 min of that, we started the ascent. Around 8000 ft the air inside the chamber condensed and a thick fog formed. When we reached 25,000 ft, half of us took of the oxygen masks and experienced oxygen deprivation. We were asked to complete a worksheet of simple problems and document our signs of hypoxia. Symptoms ranged from euphoria to lethargy to hyperventilation. Everyone seemed to notice that the 5 minutes seemed like about 30 seconds.
Saturday/Sunday:
We all had the weekend off from thinking about our upcoming project. Some people went to downtown Houston to explore while others stayed around the hotel to relax.
On Sunday we all drove to Galveston to hang out on the beach. After a couple hours it was time to head back as we had the opportunity to attend the welcome home reception for the most recent space shuttle. There the astronauts summarized some of what happened on the last flight and was a neat experience for us.
Monday:
Today was a big day to determine our ability to fly our experiment or not. The Test Readiness Review (TRR) consists of around 20 NASA engineers questioning every detail of your project to ensure everything is completely safe to be flown. The questioning lasted between 5 and 20 minutes depending on the project.
After we passed the TRR, the afternoon was spent loading the experiment onto the Zero G plane. One of the bolt attachment holes was off so 3 instead of 4 bolts could be aligned and used. We needed to do a quick stress calculation to prove that 3 bolts would be just as safe.
Tuesday:
FLIGHT DAY!!! We started with a morning briefing and anti-nausea video. We took medication to help with motion sickness and we were off to the plane. Our flight plan was 28 lunar, 1 martian gravity, and 3 zero gravity. The different gravity levels are obtained by flying very precise loops called parabolas over the Gulf of Mexico. The plane ascends and descends at 45 degree angles.
The experience is hard to put into words. Everyone lays on the floor of the aircraft during the 2G section. The first "over the top" into lunar gravity I pushed off the floor with just my arms and hit the ceiling of the plane! Bouncing around in 1/6 G is like being attached from the ceiling by big rubber bands. It really took a few parabolas to be able to function well in the environment. Our experiment worked flawlessly and we had a few extra parabolas to relax and have some fun. The martian gravity was very similar to lunar but with 1/3 gravity. Next came the zero. The feeling of floating was incredible. Your instinct is to try to "swim" through the air but it doesn't work at all. The direction you start in is the direction you go until you basically run into something else.
Wednesday:
The second group of fliers was scheduled today. They took off in the morning and came back about an hour later with zero parabolas under their belt due to visibility issues. Tentatively scheduled for later that afternoon. The flight ended up being scrubbed Wednesday with low probability of flying on Thursday :( Our faculty advisors took off in the afternoon for Nebraska with Dr. Nelson not being able to fly in reduced gravity. Thanks for all your help and I hope it can work out next year!
Thursday:
The day is cold, windy, and rainy.... doesn't look good for a flight today either. After the briefing and another round of meds, the flight is postponed until late morning. Fortunately the weather held off long enough for the flight. Turbulence was bad and the flight did need to be cut a few parabolas short which is too bad but on the bright side we all flew and we got all the data we needed. The afternoon was filled with all kinds of tours of the Johnson Space Center facilities....VIP style.
Friday:
Today was the long trip back to Nebraska. Pictures will be posted shortly and a zip file of all media will be made available soon.
posted by Jack at 12:02 PM
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