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LA BUENA VIDA

escape
Move Over Peter Pan

With private enterprises now offering zero gravity flights, the sky is no longer the limit.

The dream of flight has driven man to test his ingenuity. The Wright Brothers had the audacity to defy gravity with archaic but “functional” contraptions. Today, the illusion and reality of weightlessness is at our feet, literally.
Zero Gravity Corporation, lead by visionary and dreamer Dr. Peter H. Diamandis (chairman and founder of the X Prize Foundation) now offers the unreachable: zero gravity flights. After 14 years of extensive testing, the Zero G team has created an experience that is literally out of this world. Boarding the meticulously outfitted 727-200 aircraft is an experience filled with excitement, nervousness and uncertainty that together make a delicious cocktail.
Diamandis wished to share the experience that only 472 people in history (all astronauts) have lived, with the rest of humanity. Today, aboard G-Force One, Zero G is executing weekly flights from Cape Canaveral, Florida, Las Vegas, and several California airstrips. A 90-minute flight of 15 parabolas gives space cadets approximately seven minutes of weightless experience in its different manifestations. The first parabolas (see chart) emulate Mars’ atmosphere (which approximates one-third of Earth’s gravity), the next simulates the gravity of the moon (one-sixth our earthly weight) and the rest take us into orbit (zero gravity).
Experiencing zero gravity is one of those ineffable phenomena that escape words and reasoning. Euphoric laughter, childish nervousness and the pure adrenalin of floating in air create a spirit of elation that lifts body and spirit. Like disembarking from a week-long cruise, the feeling of being weightless takes a few hours to wear off.
At $4,000 (including tax, lunch and enviable VIP treatment) the Zero-G experience is still a bit in stratosphere. However, as the space industry and its many educational programs (www.spaceflorida.gov) grow, the dream of becoming an astronaut is closer than ever before.

To learn more about experiencing space please visit: www.gozerog.com