Description: Vomit Comet is a nickname for any airplane that briefly provides a nearly weightless environment in which to train astronauts, conduct research, and film motion pictures. Versions of such airplanes have in the past been operated by NASA's Reduced Gravity Research Program since 1973, where the nickname originated. NASA prefers the nickname Weightless Wonder for public relations reasons.
Boeing KC-135A Stratotanker (717-100) - N930NA (cn 17969)
One, a KC-135A known as NASA 930 was also used by Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment for filming scenes involving weightlessness in the movie Apollo 13; that airplane was retired in 2000 and is now on display at Ellington Field, near the Johnson Space Center. It's estimated to have flown over 58,000 parabolas. |
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