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For that weightless feel

Zero gravity is now within reach of all

Washington: Science teacher Mike Hickey has long understood the difference between mass and weight. Now, floating in zero gravity, he does not just understand it, he feels it.

The 54-year-old Cleveland high school teacher is giggling like a middle-schooler with a crush: "Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. I still have mass. No weight."

Mr. Hickey, all 89 kg of him, is drifting along with 38 other teachers inside a specially modified jet diving over the Atlantic Ocean.

After this, Mr. Hickey figures it will be simple to get his students to understand mass versus weight. The kids will see on video "this fat old man floating around like there was no weight there at all ... I definitely lost weight. I lost ALL my weight."

Zero gravity, once an exclusive playground for astronauts and select scientists, is no longer out of reach for everyday people. Millionaires, doctors, and teachers are feeling the fleeting freedom of weightlessness. The price is under $4,000 for nearly five minutes in zero-G.

40-year history

In the more than 40 years of zero-gravity flights, beginning with astronauts, the world's two largest space agencies have flown thousands of scientists, engineers, astronauts, and even the cast and crew of the movie Apollo 13, said Alan Ladwig, former NASA associate administrator. Mr. Ladwig, now Washington space operations chief for Northrop Grumman Corp., estimates 50,000 people may have flown in zero gravity.

Five planes create zero-G conditions. NASA has one. The European Space Agency has one. The Russians have one. Two are commercially operated in the United States by Zero Gravity Corp. of Dania Beach, Florida.

Besides Zero Gravity Corp., there are at least three other companies that sell zero-G flights to tourists, including Novespace of France, Space Adventures Ltd. of Virginia, and Incredible Adventures Inc. of Florida.

Those companies must arrange for a jet either from Zero Gravity Corp. or the European or Russian space agencies.

AP

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