Space History Photo: Astronauts Experience Weightlessness in the
KC-135 Six astronauts get to experience weightlessness on the
KC-135. In this 1978 photo from the U.S. space agency, six
astronauts who had been in training at the Johnson Space Center
for almost a year are getting a sample of weightlessness. They
are onboard the NASA KC-135 that uses a special parabolic
pattern to create brief periods of microgravity, affording
astronauts and astronaut candidates a preview of spaceflight.
These flights are nicknamed the "vomit comet" because of the
nausea that is often induced. The photo should be viewed with
feet at the top. The three astronauts in the foreground are
(left to right): Richard O. Covey, Steven R. Nagal and George D.
Nelson. In the center background is Robert L. Stewart. Obscured
in the background are Norman E. Thagard and Ellison S. Onizuka.
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