Astrium Gmbh

Manfred Zier

Stephen Ransom

A test chamber is pivotably suspended in an aircraft, so that the center of gravity of the test chamber always self-actingly orients itself in the direction of the effective residual acceleration. To simulate a selected acceleration greater than 0 g and less than 1 g, the aircraft is flown along a parabolic flight path with a downward vertical acceleration such that the difference between Earth's gravitational acceleration and the aircraft's acceleration corresponds to the selected acceleration to be simulated. To simulate gravitational conditions on Mars, the aircraft is flown with a downward vertical acceleration of about &frac23; g, so that the residual acceleration acting on the test chamber is about &frac13; g. The atmospheric conditions, such as the gas composition, pressure and temperature, of Mars can also be established in the test chamber.

Growing community of inventors

Ritterhude, Germany

Manfred Zier