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What's it REALLY like to be in zero gravity?

Brave HP-ers take flight to celebrate the launch of the HP ENVY Zero-Gravity printer into outer space.

By Sarah Murry — February 9, 2018

Last year, HP developed a custom HP ENVY Zero-Gravity Printer for use in the International Space Station.

Courtesy of HP

Last year, HP developed a custom HP ENVY Zero-Gravity Printer for use in the International Space Station.

Word to the wise: It’s best to eat a light breakfast before zipping up your flight suit and then escaping the planet’s gravitational pull.

That’s just some of the pre-event prep given to of 34 HP executives, employees and media who attended an event hosted by HP and Zero Gravity Corp. Now, HP Chief Executive Dion Weisler and President of HP Imaging, Printing & Solutions Enrique Lores, can check “zero-gravity space flight” off their bucket lists.

To mark the upcoming launch of the HP ENVY Zero-Gravity printer to the International Space Station (ISS), the fearless fliers got the chance to experience weightlessness in a special plane that shot them 30,000 feet into the air on a series of parabolic flights.

“I’ve always dreamed of going into space and being weightless.”

Michael Hilburg, market research and insights manager, HP Inc.

Or, as IT World Canada’s Brian Jackson put it, “the plane flies up at a sharp angle and then nose dives,” creating the zero-gravity conditions astronauts would encounter on the ISS.

View photos from the zero-g flight:

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Intrepid group from HP takes flight

A once-in-a-lifetime chance to experience weightlessness by launching 30,000 feet into the air (and nose-diving back to Earth).

Turns out that the fliers had a right to be a bit nervous about the content of their stomachs as their bodies were hurled through space.

Michael Gieseke, from HP’s EMEA print team, initially thought zero gravity might feel something like skydiving.

“But it’s not,” he says. “You suddenly have the impression—for a short moment—that the ground disappeared. You start floating, but without any resistance like you would moving through water.”

Another pro tip that Gieseke picked up mid-flight: “Never look out of the window.”

3D printed parts for the ISS-ready printer

Courtesy of HP

3D printed parts for the ISS-ready printer

“These flights are nicknamed the ‘vomit comet,’ so the anticipation was the scariest part of the day,” says Michael Hilburg, market research and insights manager at HP.

But once the intrepid group was airborne, a feeling of wonder takes over, Hilburg says, as “your body shifts from being pressed into the floor to being slowly lifted off of the ground. It was incredible to just see everyone take off.”

For Gunar Penikis, manager, HP Connected print platforms and operations, said the flight reminded him of the “Gravitron,” a staple of county fairs and amusement parks that uses centrifugal force to pin riders against the walls by spinning them at dizzying speeds. 

After feeling pressure on your body, it’s surprising when the “plane quickly tilts and you find yourself lifting off the floor and floating in the air,” he says.

The zero-g flight fulfilled one of Michael Hilburg’s childhood dreams. The market research and insights manager at HP recalls a grade-school project that involved corresponding with NASA officials and astronauts that culminated in viewing a shuttle launch.

“Since then, I’ve always dreamed of going into space and being weightless,” he says. 

Learn more about the HP ENVY ISS and watch the story of its reinvention: 

Courtesy of NASA

Meet the HP ENVY ISS Printer Team
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