New NASA contract available

Yes, you could become a NASA contractor. Although, to be fair, it’s not exactly a common specialty.

NASA is looking for potentially a new Vomit Comet supplier.

The Vomit Comet – what a name. I refer, of course, to the planes on which aspiring astronauts were lofted into the sky, and at the top of their trajectories, their speeds matched the pull of gravity to make them weightless. Might only be for a few seconds, but it gave them a taste of zero-G. And of their previous meal, no doubt, hence the plane’s nickname. We all saw it in “The Right Stuff” or read about it in the parent book, right?

While a single private company has handled these zero-G flights for NASA for years, a new contract solicitation shows the agency is once again inviting competitors to bid for the work, with the possibility of providing new solutions for a decades-old requirement.

NASA is interested in flexible, scalable, and novel operational concepts with the potential to help NASA expand access to reduced-gravity environments and accelerate space technology readiness.”

The current supplier, Zero-G, has been at this a while.

That’s the Florida-based Zero-G corporation, which offers parabolic flights on a retrofitted Boeing 727-200 dubbed ‘G-Force One.’ On the standard 90-minute flight the company offers, the aircraft will hit an altitude of 24,000 feet before beginning a steep climb at a 45-degree angle into a parabola that peaks around 32,000 feet. During the maneuver, passengers pull 1.8 Gs, according to the company; near the crest of the arc, the low-gravity phase begins, creating roughly half a minute of weightlessness.

G-Force One completes 15 parabola maneuvers in a single flight.

Think it’s for NASA only? Guess again.

While Zero-G offers separate rates for research flights, individuals ages eight and up can have the full experience for $8,900 per person, or $295,000 for the full 28-seat plane, plus a dedicated photographer.

Photographer? Man, I finally read of a job I might want to do when I grow up and I’m too old.  As of now, Zero-G is the only authorized parabolic flight supplier.

Vomit Comet history began with a Convair C-131 Samaritan, a militarized version of a twin-engine passenger aircraft originally used by the Air Force for VIP transport and medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) missions. The service began using the planes to simulate zero gravity in 1957, and NASA took over the work in 1973.

Eventually, a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker, a type that first went into USAF service in 1957 and variants of which are still used for aerial refueling today, became the new Vomit Comet. One of the KC-135As that served in this role reportedly executed more than 58,000 parabolas and played a key role in filming for the blockbuster “Apollo 13.”

Retired…not because 58,000 parabolas strained the plane, but because routine maintenance was too expensive. The plane was otherwise fine.  Man, Boeing made the 707s tough.

A C-9B (DC-9) that NASA acquired subsequently took over the role for about a decade before it too was put out to pasture. Vomit Comet duties were then fully turned over to the private sector.

Eligible contractors must be capable of providing two or more parabolic maneuver types per flight to simulate a range of gravity conditions, including microgravity, and Lunar and Martian gravity, among others. Their platforms need to be capable of sustaining each gravity level for at least 10 seconds, though 30 seconds or better is preferred.  TWZ

Fun article. Makes you realize how good our suppliers like Boeing and McDonnell (yeah, they may be one company now but they used to be rivals) really were.

Category: Movie Magic, NASA