 Welcome to the NASA Lewis Research Center. Lewis, originally an aircraft propulsion lab, was one of the original NASA centers. With the start of the space race in 1958, Lewis became NASA's lead center for space propulsion, power, and communications. Lewis' science and technology has been critical to putting a man on the moon and the development of the space shuttle. Today, Lewis is also a lead center for microgravity sciences and is responsible for the power system of the space station. During your visit, you'll have the opportunity to learn about our aeronautics and space programs, from experimental high-performance jets to space shuttles and the space station. Unfortunately, you won't be able to experience how our pilots and astronauts feel in these dynamic environments. But there may be a way you can experience some of the sensations. The Cedar Point Amusement Park and NASA Lewis have teamed up to show you how your experiences within 200 feet of the Earth's surface relate to activities 200 miles above the Earth. Located 60 miles northwest of Lewis, Cedar Point has many rides in which you can challenge the laws of nature as you speed around corners and fly through the air. At times, seeming to defy gravity. Some of these rides create environments identical to those experienced by high-performance jet pilots and astronauts. The only difference is the length of time you are in these thrilling environments. Let's explore some of the similarities between amusement park rides and space flight. Keeping your orientation while spinning around on rides like the Witch's Wheel can be a difficult task. This was also difficult for the Mercury 7, America's first astronauts. To see if these men had the right stuff, they came to NASA Lewis to train in the Multiple Axis Space Test and Nursia Facility. The what? That's multiple. More than one? Axis. A real or imaginary straight line on which an object rotates. Space. You mean like outer space? Yes. Test. Can you do that again? I think I forgot to turn the data recorder on. Inertia. How do you stop this thing? Facility. Just down the midway behind the merry-go-round. Not that kind. As another example, if you take a ride on the Magnum XL 200, you'll notice that at the bottom of the first hill, you'll feel heavier. Typically, about three or four times heavier. That's because the seat of the roller coaster is pushing you back up so that you can climb the next hill. That's the same feeling the space shuttle astronauts have during a launch. In order to get up enough speed to get into space, the shuttle must accelerate at about four times the force of gravity. The difference is this lasts for over eight minutes when you're an astronaut. Perhaps the most obvious similarity is for those brave enough to go on the demon drop. This ride sends its occupants into a brief freefall. From the rider's point of view, gravity seems to be suspended as they rise up from their seats. This brief experience for demon drop riders is the way of life for astronauts. Shuttle crews have stayed in orbit for two weeks while space station crews will live and work in space for several months at a time. This puts a whole new meaning to the phrase, losing your lunch. Let's look at why what you feel on the demon drop is so similar to what the astronauts experience in space. If an astronaut releases an apple on Earth, it falls. When he releases an apple on the space shuttle, it falls too. It just doesn't look like it's falling. That's because they are all falling together. The apple, the astronaut, and the orbiter. But they aren't falling towards the Earth. They're falling around it. Let's imagine that we put another astronaut on an elevator on Earth. The elevator is going to the top of a very tall building. Suddenly, when he reaches the top, the cable breaks. The elevator car with the astronaut in it begins to fall. What will happen inside the elevator? Well, since he's falling and the elevator is falling at the same rate, he starts to float. His body isn't pushing on the inside of the elevator anymore. He has no weight. He's weightless. If he had an apple with him, it would float too, just like the one in the shuttle. Because the astronaut, the apple, and the elevator would all be falling together. It would be a fun ride until he hit the bottom. And that's why things float around in space. Because they all fall on a curved path around the Earth. Back at NASA Lewis, researchers have been using a facility similar to the demon drop for over 30 years to conduct experiments in the low gravity environment of freefall. The basic design and concept is the same as that of the demon drop. They are almost the same size, too. One difference between the demon drop and the Lewis drop tower is the use of a drag shield, the external cover which eliminates the effects of wind resistance. The experiment actually falls within the falling drag shield to create a pure low gravity environment, about 100,000s of normal Earth gravity. This environment lets scientists at Lewis get high fidelity data on low gravity processes and sneak previews of shuttle experiments. From a writer's point of view, the smooth slope at the bottom of the demon drop is much more comfortable than the sudden stop in the sand pit at the bottom of Lewis's drop tower. We have shown you just a small portion of NASA's space program, which overlaps with your experiences at amusement parks like Cedar Point. We hope you enjoy the rest of your visit here at the NASA Lewis Research Center. And the next time you visit an amusement park, let your imagination take you to the edge. And dream of future adventures where dreams become reality.