Students to complete low-G flights

This has to be finest field trip ever. Students from 14 elementary and middle schools nationwide will fly a student-designed experiment aboard NASA’s reduced-gravity aircraft, the Weightless Wonder, through Feb. 16. The NASA Explorer School teams selected for this learning experience will test science and math concepts in a weightless laboratory. The modified McDonnell Douglas DC-9 jetliner will fly a series of parabolic maneuvers — steep climbs followed by sharp descents. Each climb will produce about 30 seconds of hyper gravity, ranging from 1.8 to 2 Gs. When the DC-9 "noses over," each freefall will produce 18 to 25 seconds of weightlessness. The teams will fly about 32 parabolas. "The goal of the NASA Explorer School Program is to equip the next generation of explorers,” said Rob Lasalvia, program manager. “These flights are an illustration of how NASA can connect space, math and science to classrooms on Earth.” The Explorer School program enables schools and their communities to work with NASA in a three-year partnership to develop the nation's future science, technology, engineering and mathematics work force. There are now 200 teams, representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. With this program, NASA continues the agency's tradition of investing in the nation's education programs. It is directly tied to the agency's major education goal of attracting and retaining students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Meet the teams Clara Barton Elementary – Chicago, Illinois Crossroads Elementary – St. Paul, Minnesota Franke Park Elementary – Fort Wayne, Indiana Lorraine Hansberry Academy – Bronx, New York Luis Munoz Marin – Cleveland, Ohio Marcelino Canino Canino - Dorado, Puerto Rico North Ridge Magnet – Moreno Valley, California Oak Hills Terrace – San Antonio, Texas Piedmont Elementary – Charleston, West Virginia South Plantation High School – Plantation, Florida Johnson Junior High – Cheyenne, Wyoming Key Peninsula Middle School – Lakebay, Washington Middle School at Parkside – Jackson, Michigan Sioux City Community Middle Schools – Sioux City, Iowa

Three students and NASA astronaut Roger Crouch experiment with a bicycle wheel gyroscope. Credit: NASA Students from 14 schools will experiment with weightlessness through NASA’s Explorer School program. Credit: NASA NASA Einstein fellow Letitia Hoaas experiences life in microgravity while flying aboard Johnson Space Center's KC 135, the Weightless Wonder. Letitia flew with three teams of teachers from NASA Explorer Schools in 2004. The teachers were conducting experiments designed by their students. For More Information NASA Explorer Schools NASA reduced-gravity programs

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