New series of experiments in zero gravity
Water as a medium in parabolic flight experiments for the first time
2024/03/17
On 8 April 2024, the TTD team embarked on a new series of experiments in zero gravity: the focus of the current boiling experiments near Bordeaux on board the A310 Zero-G is the first-time use of water as a medium.
In the past, refrigerants were usually used in boiling experiments. By using water as a much more technically complex medium, the team hopes to utilise the high heat transfer coefficients known on Earth in zero gravity.
Parabolic flights offer a low-gravity environment in which the aircraft flies along a curved trajectory, a so-called parabola. After a strong pull, the pilots bring the aircraft onto the parabolic curve. When the aircraft slows down, reaches its apex and drops back down, everything is in free fall and experiences weightlessness in relation to the aircraft, similar to the feeling you get at the top of a rollercoaster. This short period of weightlessness lasts around 22 seconds. During this time, people and experiments on board the parabolic flight can experience the same weightlessness as astronauts in orbit on the International Space Station.
ESA has been carrying out parabolic flights since the 1980s under a contract with Novespace and its specialised aircraft, now the A310 Zero-G, to conduct at least two campaigns per year. The flights give European scientists access to a repeatable, low-gravity research environment.
