Tarrant County College professor gets to take one-day flight on NASA’s “Weightless Wonder” aircraft in January

by PegNews wire

Raymond Benge, associate professor of physics and astronomy at Tarrant County College Northeast Campus, will travel to Houston’s Johnson Space Center in January 2009 to board NASA’s “Weightless Wonder” aircraft for a special one-day flight.

Benge, designated as the flight’s principal investigator, will work with five other Texas educators on the C-9 aircraft to conduct experiments under varying levels of reduced gravity, gaining data firsthand to integrate into TCC physics courses.

“This is a not only a wonderful opportunity as an educator to directly take part in building and conducting the experiments, but also for TCC students who will be able to use the actual data and video in labs,” said Benge. “Once everything is gathered, I would also like to make it available to local high school teachers.”

Benge and his colleagues are one of three teams selected by NASA in 2008 to participate in the Reduced Gravity Education Flight Program. Participants were selected from more than 100 Texas Aerospace Scholars for their passion to motivate students in science-related fields in their classrooms.

In preparation for the flight, Benge will travel to Houston Jan. 7 for a week of training by NASA.

Source: Tarrant County College