ABOARD G-FORCE ONE ABOVE THE GULF OF MEXICO — Space is the one frontier that’s out of reach to the average person, but the feeling of space travel is now a little less elusive.
For those who dream of rocketing into space or who just want a new thrill, roller-coaster-type flights aboard a modified jetliner give passengers the sense of walking on the moon and the ability to fly like Superman. The ride can last up to two hours and costs a mere $2,950.
Zero Gravity Corp. of Dania Beach, Fla., is the first company to receive government approval to offer these acrobatic flights in the United States. Similar companies operate overseas.
Previously, only researchers, NASA astronauts in training or extremely well-heeled space enthusiasts in Russia could take the zero-gravity flights. They were also used during the filming of the Tom Hanks movie “Apollo 13.”
Company co-founder and chairman Peter Diamandis said he and partner Byron Lichtenberg, a former astronaut, wanted to “provide this experience to everybody … who has had the dream of spaceflight.”
Mr. Diamandis is also the creator of the X Prize Foundation, which sponsored the contest won Oct. 4 by SpaceShipOne, the first privately financed manned rocket to break through the Earth’s atmosphere and reach space.
Five days later, Zero Gravity ran its first trips for the general public, taking 54 persons on two flights. Plans call for flights one weekend a month for the near future, with the next scheduled for Nov. 6.
The flights leave from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport aboard a modified Boeing 727.
Mr. Diamandis said costs are kept low because the plane, owned by Fort Lauderdale-based Amerijet International Inc., flies cargo during the week. It is modified for the weekend zero-gravity trips with a padded 70-foot floor.
On a flight in September for journalists and winners of a local radio contest, the 27 passengers stowed their shoes, split into three teams — each led by a coach — and sat cross-legged on the empty floor. G-Force One flew about 100 miles west of Sarasota and first soared to about 22,000 feet over the Gulf of Mexico.
“Five minutes out,” the coaches yelled, and the call was repeated through the cabin as passengers sat and were told to look straight ahead to prevent nausea. Passengers were then given a one-minute warning before they started to feel heavier as gravity increased while the plane’s nose tilted up 45 degrees during a 30-second 10,000-foot ascent.
The plane leveled off before going into a dive. Depending on how the pilot maneuvers the plane, the dive creates one of three levels of space conditions: Martian, lunar or zero gravity.
Once the plane was over the top of the arc, the feeling of extreme weight was replaced by an immediate feeling of lightness.
The first arc on G-Force One simulated Martian conditions, about one-third Earth’s gravity. Passengers did one-armed push-ups and generally jumped up and down with increased hang time. Three lunar arcs simulated one-sixth of Earth’s gravity, which resulted in slow-motion dives and flips and people bouncing off the walls and one another.
Complete weightlessness, or zero gravity, came on the final six arcs of the flight, when passengers floated and flipped in the air like astronauts for 30 seconds at a time.
“You can’t really describe it in words; you just feel so much,” said Jackie Marina, a radio-contest winner.
When the plane was about to come out of the dive and repeat its steep ascent, the coaches yelled: “Feet down. Coming out,” and everyone immediately climbed back down to sit on the floor. A quick return to gravity could slam them to the floor.
A normal flight offers 15 of these climbs and dives, called parabolas, over 90 minutes to two hours. On this flight, the jetliner performed 10 parabolas. It’s these maneuvers, rather than the altitude — which is comparable to that of regular commercial flights — that cause the weightless effect. In contrast, what was remarkable about SpaceShipOne was the height it reached — more than 62 miles above the Earth.
NASA’s KC-135 — commonly called the “vomit comet” — does 40 to 80 of these parabolas when training astronauts for flights into orbit.
Former astronaut Rick Searfoss, who served as a commander and pilot on three space shuttle missions, moved among the passengers as the plane went through its routine, giving tips on what they could do while weightless.
Mr. Searfoss, a vice president of Zero Gravity, is one of about a dozen former astronauts who rotate on the flights.
“It’s marvelous for me, six years after my last flight into space, to experience the exact same sensations as I did as I was up in orbit,” he said. “The most unique and fun thing for me is to see the reactions of people when we get up there.”
Albert Todd, 40, and his fiancee, 46-year-old Jennifer Walsh, at first thought they won a flight simulation from a local radio station. They were surprised that the plane was actually going to take off. Miss Walsh was a little cautious during the flight, tentatively bouncing around during zero gravity. Mr. Todd, meanwhile, took full advantage of his weightlessness, doing flips and dives while shooting photos.
“I could do this all day long,” he said.
Company officials said they want to offer a fun experience to the masses but also want to show that space travel is in the foreseeable future. After SpaceShipOne’s successful flights, Richard Branson, the British airline mogul and adventurer, announced that beginning in 2007, he will begin offering paying customers flights into space aboard rockets like SpaceShipOne.
Fares aboard Mr. Branson’s Virgin Galactic will start at more than $200,000, and SpaceShipOne designer Burt Rutan will build the spaceship.
Meanwhile, Mr. Diamandis predicted that the greatest demand for the more modest zero-gravity flights will come from large businesses offering corporate incentives. He also expects researchers, film crews and the general public.
He declined to release operating costs or how much he believes the Zero Gravity enterprise will make, except to say that he expects it to turn a profit in its first year.
“The public now has a chance to actively enjoy and participate themselves, as opposed to just watching,” he said, “which is all they’ve had the opportunity to do for the past 40 years.”
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G-Force One flies out of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Per-person cost is $2,950. To rent the entire plane is $79,500. To rent the plane from an airport other than Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International is $6,000 an hour to cover travel costs, plus regular ticket prices.
The next regularly scheduled flights will take place the first weekend in November. For more information, visit www.nogravity.com or call 888/664-7284.
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