Three University students are readjusting to civilian life after spending a week as astronauts-in-training and two daunting days in experimental flight.
Engineering seniors D.J. Kroeger, Amber Thweatt and John Korsakas traveled to NASA's Johnson Space Centerfield at Ellington Field, Texas, to test their VORTEX microgravity experiment in a modified airplane. The VORTEX is an experiment in fluid dynamics that produces drops of liquid in a weightless environment.
The trip was not all thrills and chills, however. There was at least one spill.
"It was an amazing experience," Kroeger said. "I did puke on parabola number six, but up until then it was unreal."
Kroeger said that a bad case of butterflies in the stomach was the culprit in his sickness.
"I guess I was a little nervous, " he said.
Kroeger said that although he may have lost his lunch, he has not lost his astronaut aspirations.
"It is still such an amazing and exciting occupation," Kroeger said. "One bad moment on a flight is nothing ... without a doubt, I'd do it again."
Thweatt said she had reservations about the airborne roller coaster ride.
"I thought to myself, 'Oh my gosh, do I really want to do this?' I heard horror stories about people getting sick," she said.
But for Thweatt, the weightless intervals ended up being nothing short of a flying funhouse.
"Oh, we had a blast," she said. "We were doing flips and jumping off the ceiling."
The trio took turns on the flights, which consisted of 40 intervals of weightlessness over spans of 30 minutes. Two students participated at a time, one to observe and one to put the glorified, keg-looking VORTEX apparatus into motion.
Kroeger said that despite initial air-sickness, the flight was sweet, and too short.
"It went by a lot quicker than I expected," he said. "You hit zero gravity and you start floating. All of a sudden, it's over."
The students trained for a week prior to their excursion. Thweatt said the training involved instrument tests and physical preparation, but the highlight was the altitude chamber test, where all of the travelers flew up to 25,000 feet, removed their oxygen masks and breathed mind-numbingly thin air.
"It was a euphoric experience," Thweatt said .
Kroeger likened the altitude chamber test experience with alcoholic bliss.
"It's a little like being drunk ... brain function comes to a screeching halt," he said. "Some people got giddy and kind of happy."
Kroeger said one of the more grueling training procedures was rapid decompression.
"Your ears pop and the air gets sucked out of your lungs," he said. "Then water condension forms in the air like fog from your breath."
Thweatt said that meeting students from the other 24 groups that tested their projects as part of the national NASA program and learning how the other experiments worked were also high points.
Kroeger and Thweatt said the experiment, which tested droplet formation in zero gravity, was a rousing success.
"It worked really great," Thweatt said. "We got some good data."
Kroeger said the VORTEX experiment will be on a NASA shuttle flight later in the year, if the University can raise $10,000 to pay for it.
"(The VORTEX) is backup for a September flight, but there's a reasonably good chance that it will be running on one in December," Kroeger said.
The success of the flight, which could aid advances in the field of fluid dynamics, means that doctors may be able to administer liquid medicine to patients more directly and that auto manufacturers may be able to make more efficient fuel injectors.
John Korsakas, the group's third member, could not be reached for comment yesterday.