Did you ever wonder what it would be like to pop a water balloon in space?
 

Some videos of water balloons popping in low gravity .. pretty cool stuff

http://microgravity.grc.nasa.gov/balloon/blob.htm

Re: Did you ever wonder what it would be like to pop a water balloon in space?
 

that's pretty cool if you ask me

Re: Did you ever wonder what it would be like to pop a water balloon in space?
 

thats awesome. could you immagine what youd think when this 'blob' of water fust floats past you?
Id sit there playing with it

Re: Did you ever wonder what it would be like to pop a water balloon in space?
 

I wouldn't play for too long...They only have 25 seconds of weightlessness. You saw what happened in the last video....and gravity sets in.

Re: Did you ever wonder what it would be like to pop a water balloon in space?
 

That is very cool. I wish we could do things like that in science class.

Re: Did you ever wonder what it would be like to pop a water balloon in space?
 

http://microgravity.grc.nasa.gov/combustion/index.htm

I always wondered what fire looked like in [almost] zero-g.

Great find, Brandon. :)

Re: Did you ever wonder what it would be like to pop a water balloon in space?
 

actually fires tend to go out because heat does not rise (there is no 'UP') so there is no flow of oxygen into the fire to keep it burning.

Re: Did you ever wonder what it would be like to pop a water balloon in space?
 

That would be awesome. Physics and space are just two amazing things to put together. :yikes:

Re: Did you ever wonder what it would be like to pop a water balloon in space?
 

I have seen some images, not sure where, of fire in zero gravity. Like Ken said, the heat rising really affects it. I dont remember what was burning, but there was no characteristic flame shape (caused by the rising air pushing the burning particles upward) it was just a sorta spherical fire that just stood in place.

Re: Did you ever wonder what it would be like to pop a water balloon in space?
 

That is really neat. We are just learning about that plane in physics. It is really neat to see it in action. I will definately show my teacher this

Re: Did you ever wonder what it would be like to pop a water balloon in space?
 

You don't know how right you are...

<OHHH-GAH! Warning! Impending Grossness Alert!>
I have flown on the KC-135 five times (so far). It is not nicknamed the "Vomit Comet" for nothing. My first two flights were on the morning and afternoon of the same day. The first flight went perfectly - we took off from Ellington Air Field with 18 people aboard, flew 20 minutes out over the Gulf Of Mexico, and started to pull the parabolas. 20 parabolas in a row while heading east, then a four-minute turn around, and 20 more heading back west. Then a short flight back to Ellington and touch-down. Got a little queasy around parabola 15, but nothing too severe. I had made sure to follow the payload chief's advice, and had a very light breakfast (two frosted cherry Pop-Tarts and some water).

Since we all did so well, the flight crew took us to Pee-Tee's for lunch (Houston locals will know what is coming next...) for red beans and rice and bar-b-que, all sopped up with slices of Wonder Bread and butter. Then back on the plane for the afternoon flight.

Take off and then 20 minutes out over the Gulf. I made it all the way to parabola number 6 before the lunch time bar-b-que decided to say "hello!" again. Just as we were crossing over from the 2-G pull-up to 0-G at the top of the parabola, I lost it. As lunch emerged, I was fascinated by the little round globs of bar-b-que and beans and Coke that all hung together suspended in front of me. I stared at them in amazement as they formed perfect spheres just floating in the air. Two of the globs bumped together hard enough to break the surface tension, and merge into one larger sphere of "pre-digested luncheon material." A few little ones exhibited significant forward velocity, and I lost visual track of them as they disappeared down the length of the cargo bay. But they big ones stayed right next to me, as if they knew I wanted to study them carefully.

Which I did. I concentrated on them with such ferocity that I forgot the 0-G portion of the parabola is only 27 seconds long, and is immediately followed by a 27-second period of 2-G. Which meant that I was completely unprepared when the congealing large globules suddenly accelerated back towards me at 64 ft/sec/sec.

The movie "Alien" taught us that in space no one can hear you scream. But I can certify that in space you can still hear the sound of "splut! Splut! Splutsplutsplut!" when it hits you....

-dave

Re: Did you ever wonder what it would be like to pop a water balloon in space?
 

Memo to self: if I ever end up in the Vomit Comet, don't eat anything.

:)

Re: Did you ever wonder what it would be like to pop a water balloon in space?
 

That just made my day :D

Re: Did you ever wonder what it would be like to pop a water balloon in space?
 

I'm still laughing.. inside. lol.

Re: Did you ever wonder what it would be like to pop a water balloon in space?
 

a) That's some of the coolest footage I've seen in my life.

b) Dave, that's one of those "It's funny 'cause it's not me" stories. Glad you can be cheery about it!