June 26, 2006

Staci Johnson/Sonja Alexander 
Headquarters, Washington 
202- 358-7232/1761

Debbie V. Nguyen 
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111 

RELEASE: 06-248

NASA'S "WEIGHTLESS WONDER" HOST EXPERIMENTS

NASA has selected six proposals from museums and science centers to 
fly their experiments aboard NASA's "Weightless Wonder," a C-9 
aircraft that flies a series of rollercoaster-like dips and climbs to 
produce periods of weightlessness. 

The selected institutions have partnered with their local communities 
to propose and design experiments for NASA's new Reduced Gravity 
Museum and Science Center Flight Opportunities Program. The museums 
and science centers promote science, technology, engineering, 
mathematics, and education careers to students in their 
neighborhoods. 

The program began with a successful test flight in 2004. This year, 
six teams from across the country will fly during the summer from 
NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. Museums and science centers 
will have similar opportunities available annually. 

"Museums and science centers engage students and the community to 
learn about science and space. Through this program, participants 
will have a chance to experience the same processes used by NASA 
researchers to fly experiments in space and bring that experience 
back to their communities," said Chuck Lloyd, Program Manager for 
NASA's Human Health and Performance Education at Johnson. This is a 
part of NASA's Informal Education program.

NASA's informal education efforts provide stimulating experiences for 
learning outside of formal classroom environments. Our nation's 
museums and science centers use NASA content to inspire youth and 
engage them in NASA's mission. 

The selected teams, their experiments, and the dates they will arrive 
in Houston to begin their flights are:

- July 6: The St. Louis Science Center in Missouri -- Testing Gene 
Expression in Reduced Gravity through Microarray Technology - Aug. 3: 
Boonshoft Museum in Dayton, Ohio -- Emergency Severe Wound 
Containment/Treatment Device Evaluation: An Effective Deployment 
Feasibility Experiment

- Aug. 3: Hands On! Regional Museum, Johnson City, Tenn. -- The 
Sustainability of a Spherical Soap Film (Bubbles) in Microgravity 

- Aug. 3: McWane Center, Birmingham, Ala. -- Effects of Microgravity 
on Fluid Distribution in a Porous Material 

- Aug. 10: The Coca Cola Space Science Center in Columbus, Ga. -- 
Predicting Heat Flow in Microgravity 

- Aug. 10: Space Center Houston -- Fluid Dynamics in Flight. 

For information about the Reduced Gravity Museum Flight Opportunities 
Program, visit:

http://microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov/museum/ 

For information about NASA's education programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/education 

	
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