Weightlessness, here I come!
Astronaut training requires various space analog environments to simulate the microgravity of outer space. As part of my master\’s program, I will be participating in a zero gravity flight, also know as a parabolic flight, to better understand what civilian astronauts would experience in training and to apply my learning to those activities. This week I booked my flight for the spring with Zero Gravity Corporation (Zero-G). Just the simple act of booking the flight gave me a series of emotions I was not expecting.
This being around the time of CyberMonday, an internet marketing strategy to increase sales, I saw that Zero-G was offering 25 percent off the cost of a full priced ticket. With the flights priced at over $5,000, this discount would save me a significant amount of money. I immediately found myself panicking to get my order completed in time. That reaction was totally self imposed as the sale continued for a few more days. The pure excitement of participating in the flight produced a surge of adrenaline in my body and an increase to my heart rate. Who knew booking a flight would produce such a reaction?! I am looking forward to how this experience will feel, what type of reactions I will have throughout the flight, and how it could affect my outlook afterwards.
