Completely detached: UAS Technikum Wien expert Lars Mehnen took part in ESA’s zero-G flight

Lars Mehnen is a lecturer and researcher at the UAS Technikum Wien and the Technikum Wien Academy in the field of artificial intelligence. For many years, he has also coordinated the UAS’s cooperation with the European Space Agency ESA, with which joint workshops have also been held.

At the end of October, Mehnen was given the rare opportunity to participate as a test subject in ESA’s Zero-G flights near Bordeaux (France). A specially prepared Airbus can simulate the effect of weightlessness for scientific experiments by alternating between steep ascents and descents. For the participants, these flights, during which 31 parabolas are flown along a given route, are an experience that is as spectacular as it is physically challenging. Between the double acceleration due to gravity and weightlessness, Mehnen still found time to record a few clips and explains in this video exactly how a parabolic flight works.