ACC students board NASA plane to do experiments in zero gravity
Team hopes to test ability to measure weight in space
Austin American-Statesman
By Katie Humphrey

It's not exactly sleek - a couple of mutilated classroom carts, Plexiglas, lots of duct tape and other salvaged classroom parts - but the device, handmade by Austin Community College students, is their ticket to the space program.

Four ACC students spent months designing and constructing a centrifuge, which they believe will help in measuring the mass of objects in space.

Today, they will report to Johnson Space Center in Houston to test their hypothesis aboard NASA's Weightless Wonder, a modified McDonnell Douglas DC-9 jetliner that takes 45-degree nosedives to simulate zero gravity.

Measuring mass is hard to do in a zero-gravity environment, said Christina Vasquez, 20, who studies engineering at ACC.

As the four float through about 30 free falls, each lasting about 18 to 25 seconds, the students will spin quarters and maybe a couple of small rocks in the centrifuge. The spinning will generate a measurable force, which will help them calculate the mass of the objects.

"Knowing how fast it's going around and knowing how far away it is from what's spinning — how hard it's pulling away - you know how heavy something is," said Danaan Thome, 19.

The ACC group was among 34 teams selected from about 50 that applied to participate in the 2007 Microgravity University program. The second team ever selected from ACC, they are the only community college represented in this year's program, which includes teams from Brown and Yale universities.

The students who visit Johnson Space Center will spend nine days learning about NASA, undergoing physical training and performing their experiments aboard the Weightless Wonder, said Debbie Nguyen, a NASA spokeswoman.

"The program is trying to put them through the same procedures as we would our full-time professional research scientists," Nguyen said. "It's an opportunity to give them a chance to do something themselves and to test it in a unique environment."

The students submitted their proposal at the urging of ACC physics professor John Allen Underwood, who serves as the group's faculty adviser.

Underwood supervised the 2002 ACC team. They tested the effects of applying force superficially to simulate gravity in a weightless environment.

Members of that team, all of whom went on to study science and engineering at four-year colleges and graduate schools, said that doing the experiment aboard the NASA plane was the highlight of their academic careers, Underwood said.

The current team's experiment is exciting because it tests technology that could be very useful for NASA and scientists who work aboard international space stations, Underwood said. And the students are so enthusiastic about the opportunity that the potentially stomach-churning flight doesn't seem to worry them much at all, he said.

"Youth is so wonderful, because they just charge full-steam ahead," Underwood said.

Although the cost of the flight is covered by NASA, the students will have to raise money to pay for their trip, hotel and supplies. They've raised about half of the $5,000 they need, Underwood said.

NASA offers participants anti-nausea medication to quell side effects of the parabolic flight aboard the plane, jokingly referred to as the Vomit Comet, but the ACC students said they're much more focused on making their experiment work than worrying about the flight.

"I think it's really going to be incredible," said Ryan Prentice, 26. "It seems like such a cool thing that I haven't had time to worry about it."

Teammate Nick Wiz has a similar attitude: "I'm 18 years old. I can survive anything."

The most daunting part of the project has been finding the time to meet NASA's extremely detailed demands, Vasquez said.

Every nut, bolt and screw must be itemized. Tools have to be numbered and sorted. Every piece of equipment must be secured, and every gap between parts must be closed.

On Wednesday, the students put on the finishing touches and did a trial run before disassembling the centrifuge and piling into a pickup for the trip to Houston. Once they arrive at Johnson Space Center, they have to pass physical training and an inspection of their experiment and all materials before they're allowed to fly.

"I'll be floating next week," Vasquez said, tightening a bolt. "But I have a lot of stuff to do before I get there."