'weightlessness' is a correct and usable word in written English.
It can be used to describe a physical state in which objects have no gravitational force acting upon them, often experienced by astronauts in space. For example, "The astronaut felt a sense of weightlessness as he floated in the spacecraft."
For $200,000 a pop, the 500 or so passengers who have already signed up have been promised around six minutes of weightlessness in a flight that lasts a total of two and a half hours.
NASA scientists are concerned that long periods of weightlessness could put space travellers' vision at risk - a serious concern as talk turns to lengthy flights to other planets.
They could be genetically engineered to resist radiation and osteoporosis, a weakening of the bones which would result from prolonged weightlessness.
Arthur C. Clarke, a master sci-fi author, once speculated that weightlessness would inspire new forms of erotica, and "Moonraker", a James Bond film, featured a zero-gravity sex scene.Mr Diamandis is reluctant to discuss the potential for his new enterprise to attract those who find the mile-high club too tame and don't worry that all those sudden dives might bring on a nasty headache.
There is a weightlessness to their movement, which mixes ballet, Latin and Afro-Caribbean styles and even some breakdancing.
It will also go a little higher than its predecessor, so that its passengers will experience five minutes or so of weightlessness before flying back to receive their astronauts' wings.
Then catch your breath during three and a half minutes of weightlessness before gliding back down again to California's Mojave Desert.This, however, was no dream.
By comparison, passenger jets cruise at an altitude of about six miles.Eric Anderson, Space Adventures' boss, says his company is confident that there would be "thousands" of customers willing to pay $100,000 for a 30-90 minute space experience, including five minutes of continuous weightlessness.
During the free-fall portion of each parabola, we experienced 20 seconds of weightlessness, a sensation akin to swimming without water.
As well as asserting America's might as a space-faring superpower, it would let researchers monitor the effects of very-long-term weightlessness on astronauts essential knowledge for the trip to Mars that, five years later, Mr Reagan's successor, George Bush, promised within three decades.In this section A black hole in the sky Bursting into life Take up thy bed and walk A Leonid meteor storm?
Or they can rush to Zero Gravity Corporation, which for a mere $3,500 flies Boeing 727s in parabolic dives to give a taste of weightlessness.
