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Zero Gravity
Corporation (ZERO-G®) Company Background
Founded in 1993, Zero
Gravity Corporation (ZERO-G) is a privately held space entertainment
and tourism company. Its mission is to bring the excitement and
adventure of weightlessness to the public through a safe, fun and
cost-effective experience. Headquartered in Las Vegas, ZERO-G is
co-founded by space visionary and entrepreneur Dr. Peter H.
Diamandis, veteran astronaut Dr. Byron K. Lichtenberg, and NASA
engineer Ray Cronise. ZERO-G is the first and only FAA-approved
provider of commercial weightless flights for the general public;
The ZERO-G Experience™ launched in October 2004. ZERO-G has since
successfully flown more than 2,500 passengers aboard 100 flights. In
April 2006, ZERO-G became the first commercial company to gain
permission from the Kennedy Space Center to use the shuttle runway
and landing facilities, to operate its weightless flights. As of
April 21, 2007, ZERO-G also offers regular flights for the general
public from Signature Air Terminal at McCarran International Airport
in Las Vegas.
In 2006, ZERO-G joined with Northrop Grumman, sponsor of the
Weightless Flights of Discovery, an innovative science and
engineering education program that incorporates zero-gravity flight
experiences for teachers. The program utilizes hands-on science
workshops and ZERO-G’s unique weightless flights to help educators
share the fun and excitement of science, technology, engineering and
math with their students. The program realizes ZERO-G’s mission to
utilize its capabilities for the public sector as a way to further
teacher and student knowledge and understanding of science, while
inspiring the next generation of space explorers. In its inaugural
year, the program hosted 250 teachers representing 49 states, five
U.S. territories and 24 countries. In 2007, ZERO-G and Northrop
Grumman strive to fly approximately 400 teachers and college
students.
Continuing its community outreach efforts, on April 26, 2007, ZERO-G
flew Professor Stephen Hawking, the world’s leading expert in
gravity, aboard G-Force One to raise funds for several charitable
organizations including Easter Seals, the Starlight Starbright
Children’s Foundation, the X PRIZE Foundation and Augie’s Quest. The
flight took off from the Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy
Space Center in Central Florida.
How Weightless Flight
is Conducted
ZERO-G conducts its
weightless flights aboard G-Force One – a specially modified Boeing
727-200 aircraft. Able to accommodate up to 35 Flyers and six crew
members, G-Force One is licensed at the highest levels of safety
with the FAA following extensive testing and evaluations in
coordination with the FAA. G-Force One flies a parabolic flight
maneuvers – a controlled ascent and descent of that creates
temporary weightlessness or reduced gravity. This is the identical
weightless flight experience used by NASA to train its astronauts
and used by Ron Howard and Tom Hanks to film Apollo-13.
How Parabolic Flight
Maneuvers Create Weightlessness
Flyers undergo a brief
training session before embarking G-Force One. The total flight
duration is approximately 90 minutes, during which Flyers experience
Martian gravity (1/3-gravity), Lunar gravity (1/6-gravity), and zero
gravity.
G-Force One’s interior is divided into two zones. The rear area is
called the Seating Zone, which provides seating and FAA-required
provisions (i.e. emergency oxygen, escape path lighting, floatation
device, etc.) for up to 35 cabin passengers and crew. The Floating
Zone is the forward section (approximately 90 feet in length) where
Flyers float and fly during the periods of weightlessness. For
consumer flights, the floor and walls of the Floating Zone are
covered with a special FAA-approved 1.5-inch energy absorbing
Ensolite padding.
ZERO-G serves the general public (age 12 and over), the
entertainment and film industry, corporate and incentive market,
non-profit research and education sector, and the government.
ZERO-G follows the highest safety and risk mitigation standards as
set by the FAA. Aircraft operations take place under Part 121 of the
Federal Aviation Regulations, which are the same rules set for
commercial passenger airlines. The company is fully insured and
carries all required third-party and passenger liability insurance.
Furthermore, ZERO-G crew are also FAA-certified.
ZERO-G leases the specially-modified Boeing 727-200 used to conduct
its weightless flights from Amerijet International, Inc., a leading
provider of global cargo transportation solutions headquartered in
Fort Lauderdale. ZERO-G partnered with Amerijet in 2004 to obtain
the first ever FAA certification for commercial parabolic flight
operations, enabling the weightless flight experiences for the
general public. Established in 1974, Amerijet is a multi-modal cargo
provider with more than 100 offices worldwide, offering
transportation via land, sea and air as well as logistics services.
With its own fleet of all-cargo Boeing 727-200F aircraft and
employing its own pilots, Amerijet provides scheduled common
carriage service to more than 550 destinations, as well as
single-flight charters, worldwide. Amerijet also provides ocean
services (through its sister company, ITN), and intra-continental
ground transportation services to offer customers comprehensive
transportation solutions.
ZERO-G Senior Management
ZERO-G is led by a world-class team of veteran astronauts and
experienced business leaders including:
Peter H. Diamandis, MD, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO – Founder of
International Space University; Chairman X PRIZE Foundation;
co-Founder of Space Adventures
Byron K. Lichtenberg, PhD, Co-Founder, Chief Astronaut – Founder of
Association of Space Explorers; Captain, Southwest Airlines; NASA
Payload Specialist and Astronaut
Noah McMahon, Chief Marketing Officer
David Russell, Senior Vice President, Operations
Robert Ward, Vice President, Flight Operations
Booking Flights
ZERO-G flights also may be chartered for private events. Since its
launch in 2004, individual groups of family and friends to top- tier
consumer brands like American Express, Hewlett-Packard, Google and
Cadbury Schweppes have chartered ZERO-G flights. The ZERO-G
Experience builds deep common memories that no ordinary
gravity-bound exercise can equal. It is a unique way to express
gratitude to important clients and partners. Flights can be rewards,
incentives, celebrations and even revenue mechanisms for charitable
institutions.
For more information -
For more information or to
book a seat, call
702-449-8373
or
e mail us.
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