ORONO – A group of Maine college students is getting a once-in-a-lifetime chance to blast off with NASA on a near-zero-gravity flight.

“It’s just great for the students,” said Michael Mason, University of Maine assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering.

The four students won’t actually be launched into outer space, but they will experience floating in near-zero gravity in a modified jetliner while performing experiments that could benefit future astronauts.

The group includes UM students Michael Browne, a sophomore chemical engineering major, and Benjamin Freedman, who is majoring in both chemical and biological engineering. The two are teaming up with USM first-year biology major and team leader John Wise Jr. and Adam Courtemanche, a senior information technology major.

Wise is the son of John Wise Sr., director of USM’s Wise Laboratory for Environmental and Genetic Toxicology and co-mentor of the project. Wise and Mason will travel in July to Houston with the students as part of the project’s ground crew.

Mason said Friday he was just as excited as the students when he found out their project had been selected by NASA.

“I’m more than a little jealous,” Mason said.

The students will experience 30 seconds of hypergravity on the “Weightless Wonder” plane as it performs parabolic maneuvers over the Gulf of Mexico. The plane, a Boeing 707, is a former Air Force aerial tanker which started its career in 1959.

For the students the catch is that the plane will do its up and down maneuvers some 30 times in one flight, which is why it is also affectionately known as the “Vomit Comet.”

The students will be conducting research to see whether the effects of gravity play a role in the cellular uptake and toxicity of heavy metals. They want to see how toxic materials get into cells and how the toxins damage cells once they’re there.

“It’s related to research going on between my lab and professor John Wise,” Mason said. “It will play into our existing research.”

The students and their mentors will conduct research here in Maine before heading to Houston. After going through some flight training in Texas, the students will perform in-flight experiments and then return to Maine to conduct post-flight tests.

“We don’t know what we’re going to expect yet for results,” Mason said.

Although NASA absorbs all flight and training costs, the Maine team is responsible for about $10,000 in travel and personal expenses. The Maine Space Grant Consortium already has agreed to fund half the amount, but the team needs to raise the rest of the money.

Anyone interested in making a donation to the Maine team can contact Mason at 581-2344.

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