2022 – 2023
Selected for the 66th Parabolic Flight Campaign of the French CNES. Designed and conducted microgravity experiments covering thermodynamics, centrifugal forces, and Newton's Laws aboard a Zero-G aircraft in Bordeaux.
The Problem
Microgravity is one of the most difficult environments to study on Earth. Standard laboratory equipment behaves unpredictably in weightlessness, and the physics governing fluid behavior, heat transfer, and inertia change fundamentally without gravity. Our team at the Horizon Astronomy Club wanted to investigate these effects hands-on — but access to real microgravity is extremely limited.
The French National Space Studies Center (CNES) runs a yearly Parabolic Flight Campaign open to student teams. Competing for a spot required designing rigorous, scientifically valid experiments that could safely run during 20-second weightlessness windows aboard a modified Airbus A310, and convincing CNES experts our team was ready to execute.
Goals
Design experiments demonstrating physical phenomena that change meaningfully in microgravity
Meet CNES safety and design review requirements for a manned flight campaign
Execute all experiments within 20-second parabolic microgravity windows
Collect usable data and document results for post-flight analysis
Represent the Horizon Astronomy Club at an international level
My Role
As Lead Programmer and Club President, I was responsible for coordinating the experiment design process and the technical development. I led the team through a full year of preparation — from concept selection through CNES design reviews to flight day operations.
I designed the data acquisition system used to log sensor data during the parabolas and oversaw the instrumentation integration on our experiment rigs. On flight day, I was part of the team that boarded the aircraft and ran the experiments in real-time during the parabolic maneuvers.
The Process
The team brainstormed and evaluated dozens of experiment ideas across thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and classical mechanics. We selected three experiments based on scientific relevance, feasibility within the flight constraints, and the ability to produce measurable data: a thermodynamic convection study, a centrifugal force demonstration, and a Newton's Laws validation.
Over several months, we designed, built, and iterated on the experiment hardware to meet CNES safety requirements. This involved structural reviews, material compatibility checks, and multiple design presentations to CNES engineers. Each revision made the rigs safer, simpler, and more reliable.
The campaign took place in Bordeaux aboard CNES's Zero-G aircraft. During each parabola, the aircraft follows a Keplerian arc that produces approximately 20 seconds of weightlessness. Our team ran the experiments across multiple parabolas, operating instruments, collecting data, and documenting observations in real-time.
After the campaign, we processed the sensor data and video recordings to analyze the experimental results. The data confirmed our predictions for convection suppression and inertial behavior in microgravity, and was compiled into a final report submitted to CNES.
Outcome & Results
The campaign was a success. All three experiments ran as planned across the flight, and we collected clean data from each parabola. The experience of observing physics in real weightlessness — convection stopping, fluids floating free, forces behaving differently — was unlike anything achievable in a ground lab.
The win earned two of our students a flight aboard the CNES Zero-G aircraft, and positioned the club for two consecutive Young Searchers Prize victories in the years that followed. It remains one of the most formative engineering and leadership experiences of my career so far.