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Zero Gravity? That's Life on the 'Vomit Comet'

Posted on: Monday, 24 March 2008, 09:00 CDT

CHEYENNE - For two days in February, teachers from Cheyenne's Johnson Junior High fully understood the gravity of their situation.

Or, to be more precise, their lack of gravity.

These four teachers experienced the sheer joy of being weightless. They did so aboard a gleaming white DC-9 operated by NASA pilots.

The sturdy cargo plane serves as a floating lab. It has earned the nickname "Vomit Comet" because of its ability to maneuver in and out of zero gravity.

Johnson Junior High special education teacher Judy Warfel described the experience in one word: "Magic."

"I wanted to feel everything from the minute I got on the plane and it started to go up," she said. "I'm still re-living it.

"There's no space. There's no time. You were there in the moment. It was very tranquil. I just didn't want it to end."

Warfel and teachers Jessie Vierk, Darcie Punches and Carol Wierling became weightless. They did so to conduct an experiment designed by the school's seventh-grade science students.

Their flights came about because Johnson Junior High is one of NASA's Explorer Schools.

See VOMIT COMET, page A8

VOMIT COMET

Continued from A1

As such, NASA paid for a trip to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, for the teachers and associate principal Frank Barnard.

Barnard was ground crew chief for the group. NASA only allows classroom teachers to go into the air, so he couldn't fly.

They got aboard the DC-9, which climbed upward at a 45-degree angle to about 32,000 feet. The jet then curved downward at a 45- degree angle to about 23,000 feet.

"That's where you get the zero gravity," Warfel said.

The teachers divided into two groups and flew on two days. Each team achieved weightlessness for about 30 seconds for 32 times each as the plane repeated the maneuver over and over.

They weren't afraid.

"No, especially when you get to the part when you're about to hit microgravity," Vierk said. "You just start to feel yourself being lighter, lighter, lighter. And then your legs go out from under you, and you start floating."

At the space center, NASA briefed teachers before the trip. They practiced in an altitude chamber and learned to wear oxygen masks.

The purpose of the experiment was to find out how fluids of differing densities interact at zero gravity. The teachers studied the effect of zero gravity on water, alcohol and corn syrup.

They wanted to involve students in the flight, but NASA's age limit prohibited it. But youngsters took part in plenty of NASA activities at the school for the last three years.

NASA's Explorer School program gets students excited about science. The young people also can find out about the variety of careers at NASA.

"You want the kids in Cheyenne, Wyo., to have the most opportunities they can have," Vierk said. "NASA always says, 'There is a place for anybody and everybody at NASA.' We really saw that come to life while we were there."

Wierling said the experience changed her as a teacher. She understands the importance of hands-on learning even more now and how important it was in her case.

The experience hasn't left her: The other night she had a dream that she was at a business and just started floating in the air.

The group toured the space center, including stops at the old mission control used for the Gemini and Apollo programs.

"It gives you a very reverent feeling," Barnard said.

They also got a behind-the-scenes look at portions of the center tourists don't get to visit.

The trip changed Vierk's life.

"It opens your eyes to the enormous amount of experiences to be had, whether you're a teacher or a student."

Source: Wyoming Tribune-Eagle

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