Carthage in NASA Featured Article

NASA just posted a featured education article about the Carthage team and quoted Team Captain Caitlin. Check it out at: A Breath of Fresh Air.

We made it again!

Carthage Vomit has been accepted for another year of research on the Weightless Wonder! If you would like to follow our research, please follow our new blog: http://vometcomet2009.blogspot.com/ . Thank you again for all of your support!

Day 9

Carthage flyers Erin, Isa, and Dr. Crosby flew today and brought back the same positive test results. No one got sick.

Dr. Crosby did outreach on the plane, playing with a hoberman sphere to demonstrate conservation of angular momentum, and experimenting with other little toys in front of the camera.

After the last flight, we unloaded the rig from the aircraft, packed her up for shipping, and sadly, had to check out of Ellington Field and the Reduced Gravity Office (RGO). After saying goodbye, it appears that we all made a great impression on everyone at the RGO. They said they hoped to see us again next year. What a great end to an amazing week and an incredible three months!

For photos of both Team Vomit flight days visit zerog.jsc.nasa.gov for professional NASA photos of the flights.

If you have any questions or comments, we encourage you to post them here, on our photo sites, or email us at caitpenn at gmail dot com or kcrosby at carthage dot edu. Thank you to the Carthage community, RGO, and to everyone else for all your support!

Day 8

Today was our first flight day. We were all thrilled, nervous, and working hard to get our rig installed on the c-9 for the afternoon flight. We bolted down, stowed extra equipment, and anxiously waited for flight. After a quick briefing, in which Caitlin and Emily (Team Vomit’s flyers for the day) took vomit reflex suppressing medication, flyers got suited up and ready to board the airplane. Looking like professional military jet fighters, flight group B walked single file out onto the flight line, waved to their fellow teammates and buckled in for the ride of their lives.

Once off the ground, Caitlin, Emily, and Team Vomit’s NASA mentor Dr. Juan Agui readied the rig for the 27 lunar gravity, 1 martian gravity, and 3 zero gravity parabolas. The c-9 began diving and pulling up, putting her passengers through 2g or 2 Earth gravities. Each person sat or laid down while the blood pooled to the floor.

Here is where I will break protocol and begin to speak in the first person, as it seems most effective and appropriate for describing the sensations felt on the Weightless Wonder.

As the c-9 ascended toward the top of the parabola, I began to feel the effects of microgravity. It felt like that first tremendous drop on a roller coaster. My stomach felt like it was rising up up up (nearly like being pulled out of your seat on a coaster), yet the up feeling did not go away like on an amusement park ride. Suddenly, the floor of the airplane felt like it was being gently pulled away from me. I stood up with the normal force I would use on Earth, which abruptly sent me to the ceiling in lunar gravity. Everything was bouncy and light feeling. We immediately began taking data while bouncing, jumping, and getting the hang of moving in lunar gravity.

Just as soon as it began, the parabola ended as the plane continued to dive. The transition from lunar gravity to 2g was fairly gradual; however, it seemed that we all had a tendency to fall to the ground the instant we were out of lunar gravity. I sat there in 2g and could feel the blood pool in my chin, my fingers, and my legs. I tried to lift my appendages with difficulty. They felt very heavy, like weights were strapped to all of my arms and legs… I did weigh twice as much as normal after all.

Parabola after parabola, we continued taking data on pressure, flow rates, and particle counts. With quick reviews of these, we were able to determine in air that our rig was working the way it should.

Only one of us got sick toward the end of the flight (me). It is very easy to get sick on the Weightless Wonder. The inner ear has little organic devices which are not unlike an accelerometer. Basically, these little ear parts tell your brain how your body is oriented and how it is moving. If the eyes and inner ears are in conflict, then a person gets motion sickness and will have a vomit reflex. On the “Vomit Comet,” the inner ear is telling you that you are moving up and down over and over again; however, your eyes signal no movement to the brain. Confusion ensues, so the brain decides to purge the body. The medication which is given to flyers mostly takes care of suppressing these opposing signals… unless of course, a person moves his head around without also moving the body with it. One of our unfortunate team members moved her head independently of her body in order to look at a clipboard and got sick. Unfortunate is the incorrect word for the situation. After being ill, she was able to get back to enjoying the zero gravity portion of the flight.

During “zero g” flyers spun, floated, walked on the ceiling and walls, and performed other exciting tricks. It is a little difficult to describe the sensation, but I will try my best. It is like floating underwater. I felt completely buoyant and natural. Ever have one of those dreams where you are flying? Zero gravity is exactly like that. I felt like I was flying without any aid. It was a completely freeing feeling to float weightless for 25 odd seconds at a time. And I found it very odd to go from that to 2g in less than a minute. What a contrast of states to be weightless and free to move one moment and hardly be able to lift my limbs in the next.

We came out of the parabolas, packed up the equipment for landing, and debarked strutting like successful heroes all the way to the debriefing room.

At the end of the day, after a short analysis, it looks like our experiment was a success! We got good positive data that the cyclone works in microgravity. It is exciting to know that our research will influence others in the exploration for filtration systems in space. We are working on something that has a real world application. We are doing research that has never been done before. We all felt very proud at the end of the day.

Day 7

Today, Group A teams successfully completed two full flights. During this time, Team Vomit was able to mount and calibrate the new OPD, develop a new in flight procedure, and get some good measurements of the pressure drop across the cylinder with a sensitive instrument borrowed from NASA.

We were very excited to receive our lovely olive green flight suits and mission patches… one more step toward flight!

Tomorrow, Caitlin, Emily, and Dr. Agui will fly in the afternoon. We will fly 32 parabolas total on the one and a half hour flight: 27 lunar gravity, 4 zero gravity, and 1 martian gravity. Wish us luck!

Day 6

At the early morning meeting, the teams were notified that Group A would be delayed from flight due to a problem with the aircraft. So most of the teams spent time nervously waiting around for information. This gave us an opportunity to get more done on the rig. We later found out that Group A teams would all fly on Wednesday in two runs as the skid breaks on the Weightless Wonder could not be fixed until late in the afternoon.

Midmorning, astronaut Clay Anderson came to visit. He had planned to fly on the Weightless Wonder with Group 1A, but since all flights for the day were postponed Clay gave us a presentation instead. Clay flew up with STS-117 and stayed on the International Space Station (Expedition 15) for over five months. While up there, he performed three space walks, worked out for two and a half hours of every day, and conducted routine tasks and experiments. It was very interesting and enlightening to listen to Clay speak about his experiences in space and his journey toward becoming an astronaut. It was great that he came to every group and made sure to shake hands multiple times with each person. Clay was genuinely interested in our experiments and in conversing with us. We all found this very encouraging. “You can do it,” he said about completing our projects, getting good jobs, and becoming an astronaut.

The other day, our NASA mentor Dr. Juan Agui came from NASA-Glenn to advise us and assist us with the final stages of our project. We spent the remainder of the day working with Dr. Agui. We had some problems correcting the pressure drop problem, calibrating the dilution valve, and experienced a near heart stopper when we discovered that our optical particle detector (OPD) was clogged. Yet, we were able to accomplish a great deal, as well as acquire a second OPD (company sent us one due to faulty OPD1). Since OPD1 is now functional, we can take particle counts going into the cyclone and out of the cyclone at the same time rather than switch from pre-cyclone to post-cyclone while trying to keep from becoming nauseated.

Day 5

We have all been awaiting this morning with apprehension. Today is the day when all teams undergo the Test Readiness Review or TRR. During the TRR, a committee of pilots, research directors, and various engineers go from group to group, poking and prodding at each experiment. The committee has read each and every proposal beforehand and knows the experiment in detail. The purpose of the TRR is to make sure that our experiment is safe, ready for flight, and experimentally sound. We were the last to go before the review board. After quickly introducing Team Vomit’s rig, the committee asked a few simple questions and finished with us in only minutes. This was good, as more questions mean that “suggestions” would be made and given to the team after the TRR. These suggestions are actually requirements and are non-negotiable if a team wants to fly. Luckily, we received no suggestions during the review. All in all, it went very well. It looks like Team Vomit is going to fly for certain!

Our trip to JSC is not all about screwing around in a nearly weightless environment. We are here to do serious research and to work (while enjoying the experience). That being said, there is a lot of training which we are going through in order to prepare us for this flight. The physiological training and lecture received on Friday were meant to prepare us for our flight and for step two of physiological training… the ‘chamber.’

The ‘chamber’ is a hypobaric chamber (residing at NBL) which simulates the effects of high altitude by sucking the air out of the room. The trainers want all of the SEEDs Microgravity participants to recognize hypoxia in themselves and in others should a rapid pressurization of the aircraft occur. So, they put everyone on oxygen in the chamber and take us up to 25,000 feet for the hypoxia demonstration.

After listening to a quick lecture and receiving our oxygen masks, we were led to the chamber. The hypobaric chamber is very small… perhaps around fifteen feet by six feet. Each person was instructed to hook up to the oxygen. While we began our thirty minutes of nitrogen detoxification (so that we would not get the bends on descent), a few of us struggled with the claustrophobia. It was a little difficult to breath on 100% oxygen. One has to make a conscious effort to pull air in the lungs.

We ascended at a rate of about 200 feet per second. On the way up to FL250 (flight level 250 aka 25 kft), our ears began to pop and our gaseous cavities began to bloat and grow to about three times the normal size. Needless to say, seats were rumbling with all the “outgassing”.

At FL250, half of the chamber group was instructed to remove their oxygen masks. The other half of the group watched as the effects of hypoxia quickly took effect in under five minutes. Some people were unresponsive, others were giggly and euphoric, and one person briefly passed out. Quickly onset alcoholic intoxication is perhaps the best comparison for describing the symptoms of a hypoxic person. Though everyone experiences something different.

The first half went back on oxygen. Some of the trainers had to put masks back on the unresponsive people. The remainder of the group took their turn in order to give the first people a chance to observe the effects of hypoxia. After this interesting experience, the chamber was brought back down to 10kft, a safe altitude to breathe unaided, and we were finally able to take our masks off again.

Later, we went through a quick debriefing, took a quiz, and watched a video of ourselves as we suffered from hypoxia. It was very strange (and hilarious) to watch ourselves and see how we acted in that environment, as most of us did not quite remember everything in detail. We are now all certified to recognize when someone is suffering from hypoxia (we all got little certificates and cards too!).

From there, we received a behind the scenes tour of NBL. The pool used for astronaut training is about 102 feet by 202 feet and 40 feet deep… large enough to hold mock-ups of the Space Shuttle, and major parts of the International Space Station. During the tour, divers were getting the 6.2 million gallon pool ready for astronaut training later in the week.

We returned to the hotel, did some homework, and finally got some sleep. Wow! What a day!

Day 4

We thought that it would be a shame to leave Houston without actually visiting the touristy portion of the Johnson Space Center (JSC)… otherwise known as Space Center Houston. The attractions at the Space Center were really very enjoyable. We were able to view two short movies on the history of the space program and a VERY basic presentation on what it takes to make a launch occur.

Team Vomit crashed a few Space Shuttles while Caitlin and Emily managed to land two of them. At the same time, Isa and Brad successfully docked the Shuttle with the International Space Station. We are definitely cut out to be astronauts!

We hopped on a tram for a tour of the JSC facilities. The Space Center is designed to look like a college campus so as to promote a collaborative atmosphere. The first stop on campus was the Astronaut Training Facility. In this massive building are housed full scale mock-ups of ALL the International Space Station (ISS) and Space Shuttle Components as well as a full scale model of Skylab. In this facility, the astronauts are able to get used to and train in the various ISS and Space Shuttle facilities. There is also a full functioning version of the “Canada Arm” which is used on the Space Shuttle to unload ISS equipment/components and satellites in space.

One of the more memorable stops was the visit to the original Mission Control Center. This is the room where the Apollo missions and the early shuttle missions were controlled. One felt a little pride in country and the space program as the docent emotionally described some of the major events which occurred in the original Mission Control room.

From there, the tram made a stop at the Memorial Oaks Garden where each astronaut lost in an accident has been commemorated with an Oak tree. The trees were arranged in a circular pattern in the middle of a clearing on the JSC Campus.

After perusing the space shop for space ice cream and other goodies, Team Vomit again returned to the hotel for homework and sleep.

Day 3

Today, Team Vomit had some down time for a change (the hangar at Ellington Field is closed on the weekend). We traveled to Galveston and decided to go to Moody Gardens. The Gardens consist of three glass pyramids which house different environments. We visited the Aquarium Pyramid and the Rain Forest Pyramid. After ogling at green eels which resembled bitter old women, and admiring the bright plumage of some rescued parrots, Team Vomit headed north toward Kemah. The Kemah Boardwalk is a popular local place with restaurants, attractions, shops, games, rides, and a wooden roller coaster. After tramping around Kemah for a few hours, we all headed back to the hotel for some desperately needed rest.

Day 2

Bright and early in the morning, we headed out to Johnson Space Center for the start of physiological training. We pulled up to an impressive, large concrete building. Immediately inside the doors was the entrance to the official NASA Mission Control Center, where space operations are directed and monitored. People were running in and out of the multiple doors of Mission Control… we all wished that we could wander in and observe these people at work.

Just around the corner from Mission Control, we entered the main auditorium for a few hours of physiological class. A few people gave lectures on altitude sickness, hypoxia (oxygen deprivation), and motion sickness. These were all meant to better prepare us for our chamber exercise on Monday. In the chamber, we will be on oxygen while the room is slowly depressurized to 25,000 feet by sucking out some of the air at a controlled rate. At altitude teams will take turns going off oxygen for about five minutes in order to get an idea of what hypoxia feels like and to figure out which symptoms we might have at that altitude (including of course, exploding teeth, the bends, nausea, euphoria, etc).

After the physiological program, we visited the rocket park where one of the Saturn V rockets is housed. All three stages fill a few hundred foot long hangar!

Later, we did a little more work on the rig in preparation for the TRR on Monday. We replaced the T-connectors on the pre-OPD (optical particle detector) hose and the post-OPD hose with Y-connectors in order to fix a problem that we had earlier (more particles after the cyclone than coming in to the cyclone). Monday morning, we will have an opportunity to run some tests with the new connectors in place.

As promised, here is a link to Team Vomit’s photos: http://carthagevomit.snapfish.com/snapfish

We will be updating the photo page as the week continues.

Please feel free to leave comments and questions for Team Vomit.