{{primary sources, date=December 2011 Microgravity University, also known as the Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program (RGSFOP) was a program run by NASA which enables undergraduate university students to perform

microgravity The term micro-g environment (also μg, often referred to by the term microgravity) is more or less synonymous with the terms '' weightlessness'' and ''zero-g'', but emphasising that g-forces are never exactly zero—just very small (on the ...

experiments aboard NASA's reduced-gravity DC-9 aircraft at

Johnson Space Center The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is NASA's center for human spaceflight (originally named the Manned Spacecraft Center), where human spaceflight training, research, and flight control are conducted. It was renamed in honor of the late ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. Acceptance into the program requires a team of four fliers (and any number of ground crew) and was done through the writing and submission (during late Fall) of a technical proposal which details among other things what the experiment was about, safety considerations, and outreach plans. In the 2007 campaign, 36 of the 74 proposals submitted were accepted. Upon acceptance, a flight date was assigned and the team must design and build the planned experiment by then. Prior to flight, submission of a TEDP (an in-depth description of apparatus) was also required, as were FAA approved physical examinations for all fliers and the optional alternate flier.

The flight week

The flight week began with an introduction to the facility, the crew, and a description of what was planned overall. The rest of the week involved training, tours, setup, and flights. Setup of the experiment was done at

Ellington Field Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base is a joint installation shared by various active component and reserve component military units, as well as aircraft flight operations of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under the aegis ...

's hangar 990 concurrently for all teams in the flight week. The hangar houses the C-9 as well as NASA's two

WB-57 The Martin B-57 Canberra is an American-built, twin-engined tactical bomber and reconnaissance aircraft that entered service with the United States Air Force (USAF) in 1953. The B-57 is a license-built version of the British English Electric ...

high altitude research aircraft; the setup period typically goes for three days, after which the experiment was loaded onto the C-9, strapped into place, and finalized. Microgravity flights were performed during the next two days: two of the fliers on one day and the other two on the other day. The flight day begins with a briefing which involves last minute instructions and advice, and also the administration of anti motion sickness medicine. Each microgravity flight contains 30 zero gravity sessions, called parabolas, lasting 20 to 25 seconds each. Additionally, Lunar and Martian parabolas were done (one each). Transportation and housing for the flight week and the trip to Houston were not provided by NASA and must be arranged by the students.

External links

Official site

Campaign photos
NASA groups, organizations, and centers Gravity United States educational programs