Experience Zero-Gravity Weightlessness in Space -
there's nothing like it!

What It's Like: Cosmonaut for a Day ~ by adventure travel photographer Max Dereta: "I got the chance to find out how it living on Mir actually feels - in the zero-g simulator - a Russian IL-76 MDK aircraft better known as the Flying Laboratory. This plane goes up and makes a series of exotic parabolic maneuvers in the sky to simulate zero gravity for its occupants. Each one lasts approximately 25 seconds.

I go up with 11 others, eight men and three women, from Italy, Holland, Malaysia and the US. "Get ready", says a voice on the loudspeaker and suddenly invisible forces press us all to the floor. For a few seconds we feel twice as heavy as normal and then we all rise from the floor majestically, totally weightless. We float all over the airplane bouncing into each other, the walls and the ceiling. One woman pushes herself off the wall and then flies the length of the cabin, while another performs mid-air forward rolls...

"Twenty-five seconds. Get down!" Abruptly, the zero-g ends and we all tumble to the floor. The maneuver is repeated 10 times before we return to Chalovsk airport. The total time we've spent in zero gravity was just under four minutes, but every second was an adrenaline rush."

Sample Zero-Gravity Adventure Itinerary:
Tuesday: Arrive Moscow. You'll be met at the airport by Incredible Adventures staff and escorted to the Golden Ring Swiss Diamond Hotel. Evening free.

Wednesday: Breakfast in hotel. You'll be escorted to the base for your pre-flight training and safety briefing. Board Russian Space Agency's IL-76 MDK for an unforgetable experience: zero-gravity flight. Celebration lunch in the cosmonaut dining room. Return to Moscow. Evening free.

Thursday: Breakfast in hotel. You'll be escorted on a personalized tour of Moscow. Evening free. (This day may be used for flying in the event the weather is poor on Wednesday.)

Friday: Breakfast in hotel. Free day or optional tour.

Saturday: Breakfast in hotel. Escorted to airport for departure.

Copyright © 2002 Rex Fritschi LLC. All rights reserved.