Check out the press release of ESA (European Space Agency). They are looking for European students to join their new programme called “Fly Your Thesis! – An Astronaut Experience”. If you are a European student (like me), this is your change to experience a zero gravity flight. My old colleague from Ericsson was lucky and joined this kind of zero gravity flight some years ago. I saw his pictures and I must say I was a bit jealous..

ESA’s airplane flies a parable route and during 20 second periods students can feel almost zero gravity. Yes, they really hover in the air and bounce from walls. Well, may be there is not that much bouncing, but they really feel the zero gravity, just like astronauts in the International Space Station (ISS). This is currently best way to experience how astronomers feel in space.

Unfortunately one cannot join the programme just like that. The idea is that students perform a scientific experiment during the flight. It must be related to master’s of doctoral thesis of the student or it can be part of some other science project.

ESA will pick 20 European student groups who must present their thesis plans. Out of those 20 ESA will then select 3-4 groups who will join the 2009 flight. Groups of 2-4 students must be 18-28 years old, come from ESA member country and must be either MSc or PhD students. Damn! I’m already too old.. Deadline for the applications is the end of August 2008.

Here you can see the pictures and videos of Finnish students joining the flight in 2000. These are from Mikko Suominen, one of the writers of the great Avaruus.Fi astronomy blog.

Source [Avaruus.Fi via ESA]