The prime motivation for doing scientific research in space rather than on Earth is its unique microgravity environment,

where researchers can study the unique behavior of organisms and the physics of fluids and materials. The Microgravity Analysis Software System (MASS) developed by NASA Glenn Research Center and ZIN Technologies, both of Cleveland, Ohio, characterizes the microgravity environment for such space-based science experiments. The Principal Investigator Microgravity Service (PIMS) Project uses MASS technology to collect and analyze microgravity acceleration data, which it receives from the International Space Station. The real-time display and off-line analysis perform all of the data analysis, while the other components involved acquire, route, and archive data. Previous versions of microgravity analysis software were customized for each shuttle flight with an operation length of about 10 days; MASS was designed to collect and analyze data continuously for 10 years. Beyond space, MASS may bring a better understanding to lowering vehicle exhaust emissions, increasing fire safety, and improving fuel economy for automobiles and aircraft. It is common for astronauts to experience sever disorientation when they first encounter micro-gravity. Often this sensory ``confusion'' leads to space sickness or space adaptation syndrome. Since sound localization is a critical skill that people use to regain their bearings, careful study of sound localization in a micro-gravity environment would be useful for future space flights. A better understanding of directional hearing may yield new insights into space sickness and aid in the design of spacecraft, space communication systems, and earthbound space simulators. Your true weight is caused by gravity--it is the force exerted on you by gravity; usually the earth's gravity. Your apparent weight is the sum of your true weight and a fictitious force associated with your acceleration. there aremany advantages to performing scientificexperiments under conditions where the apparentweight of the experiment system is reduced. Thename given to such a research environment ismicrogravity. The prefix micro- (m) derives fromthe original Greek mikros meaning small. By thisdefinition, a microgravity environment is one inwhich the apparent weight of a system is smallcompared to its actual weight due to gravity.

Thisexample attempts to provide insight into whatmight be expected if the local accelerationenvironment would be reduced by six orders ofmagnitude from 1 g to 10-6 g,If you dropped a rock from a roof that was fivemeters high, it would take just one second toreach the ground. In a reduced gravityenvironment with one percent of Earthsgravitational pull, the same drop would take 10seconds. In a microgravity environment equal toone-millionth of Earths gravitational pull, thesame drop would take 1,000 seconds or about 17minutes! Researchers can create microgravity conditions intwo ways. Because gravitational pull diminisheswith distance, one way to create a microgravityenvironment (following the quantitative definition)is to travel away from Earth. To reach a pointwhere Earths gravitational pull is reduced toonemillionth cf that at the surface, you wouldhave to travel into space a distance of 6.37million kilometers from Earth (almost 17 timesfarther away than the Moon, 1400 times thehighway distance between New York City and LosAngeles, or about 70 million football fields). Thisapproach is impractical, except for automatedspacecraft, because humans have yet to travelfarther away from Earth than the distance to theMoon. However, freefall can be used to create amicrogravity environment consistent with ourprimary definition of microgravity Your true weight is caused by gravity--it is the force exerted on you by gravity; usually the earth's gravity. Your apparent weight is the sum of your true weight and a fictitious force Free fall is motion with no acceleration other than that provided by gravity. Since this definition does not specify velocity, it also applies to objects initially moving upward. Although the definition specifically excludes all other forces such as aerodynamic drag, in nontechnical usage falling through an atmosphere is also referred to as free fall. Examples of objects in free fall include: * A spacecraft (in space) with its rockets off (e.g. in a continuous orbit, or going up for some minutes, and then down) * The Moon orbiting around the Earth. * An object dropped in a drop tower for a physics demonstration at NASA's Zero-G Research Facility

Initially, the aircraft climbs with a pitch angle of 45 degrees using engine thrust and elevator controls. The sensation of weightlessness is achieved by reducing thrust and lowering the nose to maintain a neutral, or "straight and level" configuration (0 degree angle of attack). Weightlessness begins while ascending and lasts all the way "up-and-over the hump", until the craft reaches a downward pitch angle of 30 degrees. At this point, the craft is pointed downward at high speed, and must begin to pull back into the nose-up attitude to repeat the maneuver. The forces are then roughly twice that of gravity on the way down, at the bottom, and up again. This lasts all the way until the aircraft is again halfway up its upward trajectory, and the pilot again reduces the thrust and lowers the nose This is how the Space Shuttle stays in orbit. Itlaunches on a path that arcs above Earth so thatthe Orbiter travels at the right speed to keep itfalling while maintaining a constant altitude abovethe surface. For example, if the Shuttle climbs toa 320 kilometer high orbit, it must travel at aspeed of about 27,740 kilometers per hour toachieve a stable orbit. At that speed and altitude,the Shuttle executes a falling path parallel to thecurvature of Earth. Because the Space Shuttle isin a state of freefall around Earth and due to theextremely low friction of the upper atmosphere,the Shuttle and its contents are in a highqualitymicrogravity environment. Because of gravity, the cooler, more densewater sinks to the bottom of the container and theheated water rises to the top due to buoyancy. Acirculation pattern is produced that mixes the hotwater with the colder water. This is an example ofbuoyancy driven (or gravity driven) convection The different scientific research areas that are studied in microgravity include biotechnology, combustion science, fluid physics, fundamental physics, and materials science.