Defying Gravity

Many Fairfield students will be jet-setting off to various tropical locales for spring break.

But seniors Brendan Hermalyn, Mike Zaffetti, John Stupak and Jessica Kurose will take to the skies with an unusual destination in mind: the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX.

Fairfield was one of 34 schools selected to participate in a national program with the MicroGravity University through NASA and the Johnson Space Center. The program gives students the opportunity to work in a reduced gravity situation.

“This is the first time that Fairfield University has applied or received a grant of this nature, and the team is proud to have been awarded a slot in such a competitive program,” said Hermalyn.

Typically, only larger and more renowned science programs, like those at Yale, Cornell and Brown, are awarded this privilege.

The team will be flying on board the DC-9, a plane designed to create reduced gravity, and team is named “Vomit Comet.”

Once in air, the team will experiment with atmospheric pressure by testing how liquid splatters against hard surfaces within a vacuum. The project builds on an experiment by Lei Xu, a graduate student from the University of Chicago.

The program begins in late March when the team will undergo pre-flight testing and orientation prior to the flight.

NASA is paying for the flight aboard the “Vomit Comet,” as well as the training, while Fairfield is paying part of the travel cost. However, the team continues to look for sponsorship and donations from individual corporations.

“We’re all very excited about this achievement,” said Zaffetti. “It’s such an honor for us and the University to be able to participate in such a prestigious program.”

Results from the experiment will be shared with community programs in Bridgeport inner-city schools through a partnership with the Discovery Museum in Bridgeport and local high schools in Fairfield.

The team has been working with these groups leading into the trip.

“Our participation will, in addition to furthering the understanding of the science in our experiment, enhance the learning experience of the students in the schools we will visit provide exposure of Fairfield University, the physics department, and The Discovery Museum and Planetarium to a wide audience, and publicize NASA and its programs,” said Hermalyn.

“This is a unique opportunity that more often goes to larger programs or Ivy League schools and will serve the students and Fairfield as a whole as we continue on to the future,” Zaffetti added.