Experimental Characterization of Weightlessness During Glider Parabolic Flights

Abstract

Access to earthbound weightlessness is critical to many branches of applied sciences. Besides, several space systems require microgravity testing before their launch. Existing solutions (drop towers, parabolic flights, sounding rockets) offer variable durations and qualities of microgravity environment, but their cost and lead times make them unpractical for small actors such as universities or start-up companies. This leads to a growing interest for alternative microgravity platforms. Here, we study the use of gliders to perform parabolic flights at a lower cost, and we propose a systematic quantification of glider’s 0-g flight capabilities. Results of our flight test campaign show that gliders offer up to 5.5s of weightlessness, with excursions below 0.1g, and a satisfactory level of repeatability. Besides, the recordings do not suffer from the increased level of vibrations generated by piston engines, typical of light-aircraft-based alternatives. Operational considerations associated with glider parabolic flights are also discussed. Finally, we conclude that a microgravity platform based on gliders would be suitable especially for compact experiments and equipment in order to support accelerated design and development, or to produce preliminary experimental results.

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“…Creating a weightless environment through parabolic flight maneuvers can be done by any aircraft, from gliders [ 41 ] to military fighter jet aircrafts [ 42 ]. However, the faster the plane flies, the longer the duration of the µ g period generated.…”

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“…Different types of 2D clinostats are mostly used to simulate microgravity in the lab [26,27]. Real microgravity can be achieved by larger gravity research platforms, including drop towers [28], sounding rockets [29,30], and parabolic flights with large aircraft [31][32][33], single-engine aircraft [34], and gliders [35].…”