The first parabolic flight campaign for students

In the last week of November 1994, as part of the second European Week for Scientific Culture, 49 students were given the opportunity to experience weightlessness aboard a parabolic flight campaign flown by ESA, and, at the same time, conduct their own experiments in a microgravity environment. This flight carried 20 experiments submitted by these students. They were chosen by an international jury out of 49 submitted. The experiments covered a wide variety of disciplines ranging from general and fluid physics to materials processing, crystal growth, and technology research. An outline of the student experiments flown aboard this flight is given. The campaign preparation, the flight-week activities, and some early results of the campaign are reported. This first student parabolic flight campaign was a great success, mainly due to the hard work of all the professionals involved. (AIAA)