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Students Explore The Physics Of Spaceflight

Posted on: Wednesday, 21 May 2003, 06:00 CDT

NASA -- NASA visitor centers and educational programs provide many opportunities to learn about our aeronautics and space programs. But did you know that you can experience some of the same sensations that our pilots and astronauts feel?

You can experience similar high- and low-gravity sensations on many amusement park rides. For example, roller coaster hills create a series of alternating high-g and low-g sensations that can make you feel several times heavier than your normal body weight or can make you feel weightless.

Scientists, engineers and educators at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, have been working with local amusement parks for the past 10 years to show students how their experiences within 300 feet of the earth's surface relate to activities 30,000 feet or 300 miles above the earth.

According to David DeFelice, a member of the Office of Community & Media Relations, "creating real world physics labs where you not only see but also experience the laws of physics, excites students."

DeFelice initiated NASA's presence at the Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio, and Six Flags Worlds of Adventure in Aurora, Ohio, working in partnership with Glenn's Microgravity Science Division.

Both parks hold annual "Physics Days," events that challenge students' knowledge of physics as it relates to amusement park attractions. "Physics Days" have long been recognized for their high educational value by the American Association of Physics Teachers.

Perhaps the most obvious similarity between amusement park riders and astronauts are on rides designed to create brief periods of free-fall. From the rider's point of view, gravity seems to be suspended as they rise up from their seats.

As an analogy, you can imagine an elevator that is going to the top of a very tall building. If the cable suddenly broke, the elevator car would be free to fall. (Thankfully, modern elevators are designed with safety catches to prevent such accidents.)

The elevator car, with the passengers in it, would begin to fall immediately. What would happen inside the elevator? Well, since the passenger is falling and the elevator is falling at the same rate, he would start to float. His body isn't pushing on the inside of the elevator any more. He has no weight...he's become weightless. Any loose object would float too.

The same thing happens onboard the Space Shuttle or Space Station. The difference is the spacecraft don't fall towards the Earth. They fall around the Earth in a curved path called an orbit.

The astronauts are free to float within the spacecraft. If one tried to stand on a scale, it would register zero. That's because the astronaut, the scale and the spacecraft all fall together.

Visitors to NASA often ask to see the anti-gravity chambers used to train astronauts and conduct experiments. While it doesn't have anti-gravity chambers, NASA uses a variety of facilities to create or simulate microgravity conditions.

The Johnson Space Center operates a KC-135 Low-G Flight Research aircraft. It flies parabolas shaped like roller coaster hills to create 20-25 seconds of weightlessness so that the astronauts can experience and researchers can investigate the effects of "zero" gravity.

A typical mission is 2 to 3 hours long and consists of 30 to 40 parabolas. The gut-wrenching effects have earned this aircraft its famous nickname: "The Vomit Comet."

The facilities most often misconstrued as "anti-gravity chambers" are NASA's drop towers. Specifically, Glenn has the "Zero Gravity Research Facility." It is a large, evacuated shaft some 500 feet deep that allows test packages to free fall for just over 5 seconds. In this state of free fall, weightlessness (at or near microgravity) can be obtained. NASA Glenn also has a 2.2 Second Drop Tower.

Glenn's Office of Educational Programs and the National Center for Microgravity Research (NCMR) have been hosting workshops for middle school educators to help them prepare for amusement park physics days.

With support from the Microgravity Science Division, NCMR is also developing a new educator resource called "Amusement Park Physics with a NASA Twist." It will be available from NASA's Spacelink in the near future.

This resource will include classroom and park-based activities for amusement park physics days. Students collect data on ride heights, speeds, and accelerations using simple, inexpensive altimeters and accelerometers. This new educator guide has already been pilot tested with 1500 students.

While the word "amusement" literally means a state of not thinking, NASA is working with educators to turn amusement parks into effective outdoor classrooms.

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