I moved to Houston, TX in 2001 and soon started taking flight lessons at Ellington Field (EFD) via Houston Independent School District’s (HISD’s) Sterling H.S. aviation program. At that time, NASA was flying a KC-135 Stratotanker airplane, lovingly nicknamed “Vomit Comet” out of EFD for astronaut training. While that nickname originally belonged to the C-131 Samaritan aircraft they used to train astronauts in the original Space Race, it was transferred to the KC-135 when it was retired. Notably, NASA pioneered the parabolic flight maneuvers which are still used today to create zero-gravity environments. While causing nausea was not the goal of the flights, they would, however, make some passengers nauseous—hence birthing its cheeky name: “the Vomit Comet.”
I’ve had my eyes on a zero G flight since the day I started flying lessons at EFD and saw NASA’s KC-135 in action. Of course, getting a ride in the NASA airplane was impossible for me, so my dreams were a bit crushed for a few years.
However, when NASA retired the KC-135 and placed it as a statute at the entrance to Ellington Field, a private company (Zero-G Corporation) was born to take over NASA’s (and other researchers’) zero G needs. Now, the limitation was funding, but not inability or inaccessibility. On June 7, 2025, I took that long desired zero G flight! Happy 40th to me! A specially modified B-727-200, G-Force One, was used. We floated, we flipped, we soared! It was ab-so-lu-te-ly in-cre-di-ble!
The day started by getting flight suits and socks with grip/friction during check-in. In addition to adding to the “cool factor,” flight suits also prevent getting lose items caught on things, give coaches the ability to grab us from safe places, and allow for the safe storage of small items (such as cell phones) in zipped pockets.
They then provided us with a flight-approved light breakfast in addition to an optional non-drowsy Dramamine and an anti-nausea wearable. Believe it or not, they actually encouraged us to eat something before the flight. They also provided us with some tips on things to do and not to do to avoid motion sickness. This process and steps had been proven time and time again. Nothing us, pilots, don’t normally already do or avoid though.
The 1st biggest take away of the pre-flight briefing was: Don’t kick your legs during the parabolas! Everybody has a tendency to want to use the legs to gain balance and equilibrium and, sometimes, one may end up kicking a neighbor inadvertently. This was definitely confirmed during flight! The 2nd one was: Be ready to lay down when the crew says Get Down (towards the end of the 30 second parabolas)! Some hard landings were still had though!
Individual and group pictures were taken by the aircraft and off we went! We sat in normal airliner seats and, as with any 121 flight, listened/watched a normal airline-type flight briefing.
Once at altitude, the process started with us lying down on the floor of the aircraft and the aircraft flying level with the horizon at an altitude of approximately 26,000 feet. The pilots then gradually increased the angle of the aircraft to about 45° relative to the horizon until reaching an altitude of 32,000 feet. During this phase, we felt the pull of 1.8 Gs.
Next, the plane pushed over the top of the parabolic arc and the reduced-to-zero-gravity phase began. Finally, the plane gently pulled out of the maneuver, allowing us to gradually return to the floor of the aircraft.
The maneuver was flown 20 times (normally 15 though) over the course of the flight. Each parabola offered roughly ~30 seconds of reduced/zero gravity. We experienced four different types of gravities (or lack thereof), in this order:
- Earth: Normal for us, gravity is approximately 9.81 m/s², providing a strong gravitational pull towards the planet.
- Martian: Approximately 3.71 m/s², about 38% of Earth’s gravity. This provides a more Earth-like experience for movement compared to the Moon. Basically, jumping and doing pushups was much easier in this gravity, but one would still fall back down to the floor of the airplane.
- Lunar: Approximately 1.62 m/s², about 16.5% of Earth’s gravity. A person weighing 70 kg on Earth would weigh about 11.3 kg on the Moon.
- Zero gravity: Also known as microgravity, everything in the plane was weightless. Woah! (Remembering it again and writing about it now is giving me goosebumps!) This is where we floated, rolled, flipped, etc due to the absence of gravity. Basically, the body continues to go in the initial direction of movement unless stopped. For example, we simulated “being Superman” by traveling a good portion of the airplane length in a flat/horizontal position (with our fists up, of course!) across the middle of the fuselage. Without any inputs, we had the tendency to just simply float. I remember one of the other passengers saying “Why do I go to the ceiling every time!?” in a surprised, but excited voice.
My absolute favorite thing to experience had to be watching water droplets floating in the air. So defined! So perfect! Candy was fun to chase, but the water was very cool to see.
Looking at the FlightAware track was/is fascinating to me! In any other scenario, I would have guessed the pilots had lost control over the aircraft! But, nope, I was in that flight!
No one experienced motion sickness! The pilots were extremely smooth on the controls. Surprising? But true statement!
Unfortunately for those who have not tried it yet, the Zero-G Corporation closed its doors at the end of 2025. Zero-G was the only FAA-approved parabolic flight provider, certificated under 14 CFR Part 121. I hope Zero-G Corp or another new start-up brings zero-G flying back to the U.S.! It was one of the wildest, most special days of my life! I hope to repeat it but, until then, I’ll continue to remember the amazing experience I already had!
I hope this also serves as a friendly reminder to not buy “things,” but experiences instead!
