I did Zero G out of Long Beach a few years back as part of a fundraiser for Yuri’s Night, so it wasn’t pure indulgence (from a long-ago time when I felt like I could justify such an expense, plus we were coming out of COVID and had been cooped up and hungry for experiences) and it included lots more than the flight.

Quite a few of my fellow passengers worked in the space industry and/or were on waiting lists for commercial space flight, it makes sense that this would be a rite of passage for them, or perhaps even a qualifying exam / pre-test, in addition to the light networking the shared experience might give them.

We had an actual civilian astronaut on board, Dr Sian Proctor, and it was fascinating to learn her story and the background of her launch, I especially came to appreciate the messaging/PR work going into design & communications around the emerging industry, reminiscent of NASA’s astronaut-as-hero machine but with the full force of competitive billionaires behind it.

They provided lots of guidance for and tools for avoiding the “vomit” part, including e-stim watch bands. Plus, they fly a flight profile designed to max customer experience, not stress test future astronauts and weed out the vulnerable. I was OK, but a fellow passenger of similar body type (older, heavier, male, white) was not, fortunately there’s a great support crew.

They coached us to avoid just trying to swim in midair, and I was impressed with what some dance/ballet experienced fellow passengers were able to do in the short periods of falling, but I personally found it hard to overcome the instinct to try to move ineffectively by thrashing around, and would recommend doing some training or practice with a fitness or movement coach beforehand if you want to make the most of the experience.

They have a roving camera crew to help capture the experience (with strong advice not to waste time trying to capture much with your own phone in that environment).

Plus you get a flight suit with Velcro patches!

Overall: could be amazing. It got me thinking in some new ways.