The program that allows dozens of young people to be “astronauts for a day”, boarding a zero-gravity flight, will take place again this year and the new edition will be launched on Monday. The launch of the 2nd edition of the “Zero-G Portugal — Astronaut for a Day” initiative will take place at the Escola Secundária Diogo Gouveia, in Beja, and will be attended by the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education (MCTES), Elvira Fortunato.
The Portuguese Space Agency (Portugal Space) resumes the initiative, started last year, which allows dozens of young people to board a zero-gravity flight and experience what astronauts feel.
In the first edition, almost 500 young people applied, of which only 30 were selected.
“This year, Portugal Space anticipates an increase in the number of students interested in participating in a program of enormous relevance,” adds the MCTES in a statement.
In September of last year, 30 young people experienced the sensation of zero gravity in a parabolic flight, the first in Portugal, aboard a plane departing from the Beja Air Base.
The initiative of the Portuguese space agency brought together students between the ages of 14 and 18 selected after several qualifying tests.
Last year, the flight chartered by Portugal Space was carried out by an Airbus A310 aircraft, which simulated the absence of gravity that exists in space based on ascent and free fall maneuvers (parabolas) carried out by the aircraft that allow passengers float inside. in cycles of about 20 to 25 seconds.
Parabolic flights (along with underwater training) are practically the only means on Earth capable of reproducing the effect of weightlessness or microgravity in people. What makes it possible to generate this effect in the air are precisely the parabolas described by the plane.
Source: Observadora
