Area teachers to take weighless flight

Tammy Pakulski’s fascination with space travel came naturally.

Her grandfather is a former NASA engineer who helped build engines for the X-15 rocket plane that first carried American astronauts to the brink of space back in the early 1960s .

So the seventh-grade math teacher from J.C. Booth Middle School in Peachtree City didn’t hesitate at the opportunity to do the next best thing in a zero-gravity flight that will be comparable to what humans encounter during space travel. She will be among the 60 Atlanta-area math and science teachers participating in Tuesday’s Northrop Grumman Weightless Flights of Discovery teacher training program. The once-in-a-lifetime, high-altitude experience will provide teachers with first-hand experience in the application of math, science and engineering principles in a zero-gravity atmosphere.

“Like a lot of kids, I grew up dreaming of being an astronaut and flying the space shuttle,” Pakulski said. “This flight brings me as close as I can get to that dream.”

The teachers will board a specially-modified 757 at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. At 24,000 feet, the plane will pull to a 50-degrees “nose high” position before pushing it over the top at 31,500 feet to reach zero gravity.

Everyone and everything inside will become weightless for 25-30 seconds before the plane gently dips down to a 45-degree “nose down” position to stabilize things. The maneuver will be repeated 15 times, giving the participants about six or seven minutes of weightlessness.

Pakulski and the others were chosen this summer from among the more than 100 Atlanta-area applicants. She plans to conduct her own individual experiments during the flight, including one that demonstrates the affects of Lunar and Martian gravity on the human body by doing as many push-ups as possible during the partial gravity segment of the flight where participants feel as if they are on the moon. Pakulski also plans to work with a group of other teachers to conduct other experiments. One will demonstrate human strength in a zero-gravity environment by having the teachers perform such acts like one-finger push-ups and somersaults.

The teachers will bring their experiences and in-flight videos back to their classrooms to incorporate into their lesson plans so that they might inspire the next generation of American scientists and engineers.

“I’m very excited,” Pakulski said. “I’m excited about going on the flight and bringing the experience back and sharing it with the students. I think it’ll be a lot of fun.”

That’s just the idea, said Sandra Evers-Manly, president of the Northrop Grumman Foundation.

“Every engineer, every scientist, every technically trained person in our nation can look back and identify a teacher who played a significant role in his or her decision to pursue a technical career,” she said in a statement on the company’s website. “The Weightless Flights of Discovery program is all about giving teachers the tools and experiences they need to show their students that math and science are not only entertaining, but can also be the basis for a fascinating career.”

The community can track these teachers’ flight through zero gravity by going to www.flightware.com. Enter tail number for G-Force One: N794AJ.