Certifying the Dream, The Story of Zero-G

For more than 40 years NASA and other government space programs around the globe have been flying parabolic maneuvers in various aircraft to give astronauts and researchers brief periods of microgravity without actually going to space. This experience was never widely available to the general public in the United States due to regulations and restrictions on commercial aircraft operations. This paper details some of the unique challenges of obtaining final operational certification for commercial parabolic flights and the applicability to new suborbital spacecraft intended for general passenger use.