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Parabolic flights
The Airbus A310 Zero G operated by CNES subsidiary Novespace is no ordinary aircraft. It recreates weightless conditions for 22 seconds at a time, so passengers can observe physical and physiological phenomena that are otherwise masked by gravity on the ground, only at much lower cost than in space. For example, scientists can study how the human heart works, analyse fluid properties or observe how a material behaves at high temperature. Such experiments serve to test out systems and equipment before sending them into space.
To create these weightless conditions, the A310 Zero G flies a series of 30 bell-shaped parabolic trajectories on each sortie. Specially fitted out for this type of flight, the aircraft is used by CNES for its parabolic flight programme, initiated in 1988. Every year, CNES conducts two parabolic flight campaigns, each comprising three flights. Each flight carries a dozen science and technology experiments. The A310 Zero G also flies parabolas simulating lunar and Martian gravity conditions to prepare for future exploration missions to the Moon and Mars.
See also
Mission's news feed
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Parasol satellite mission could be extended
Parasol completed its 6th year in orbit on 18 December 2010. This mission to observe clouds and aerosols in Earth’s atmosphere has been a great a success for CNES, which is now...
January 19, 2011
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Parasol moves off the A-Train’s track
Before the Parasol satellite runs out of fuel, CNES has decided to take it off the A-Train, where it has been probing Earth’s atmosphere with its companions for 5 years.
January 13, 2010
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Parasol in the eye of the storm
Late February, Cyclone Gamede brushed past Réunion, leaving 2 dead, 100 injured and more than 100 million euros in damage. CNES’s Parasol cloud- and aerosol-observing satellite...
February 27, 2007