Flights in zero gravity in Russia can be made on a modified long-range space aircraft-laboratory IL-76 MKD. Weightlessness on board is achieved due to special aerobatic techniques – “parabol.” Before the parabola begins, the plane flies horizontally at an altitude of 7.3 km. The pilot begins to direct the ship up, gradually increasing the angle of inclination to 45 degrees, to a height of 9.7 km. Then the aircraft is “pushed back” to create a weightless segment of the parabola. For the next 20-30 seconds in the aircraft – zero gravity. Then a smooth decline begins. There are no portholes in the planes, so passengers cannot understand that the plane changes the angles of flight. The maneuver is repeated 13-15 times – this is how several weightlessness modes are provided. In addition to weightlessness, parabola tours include “lunar” and “Martian” gravity, which are created due to a longer arc span at the top of the parabola.
Such flights cost around 280 thousand rubles. Carried out at the Chkalovsky airfield in the Moscow region. They are available to everyone who does not have contraindications for health reasons and age restrictions. Flights in zero gravity, of course, are not real cosmotourism, which today is gaining momentum around the world. But the impressions received on board the IL-76 MKD are remembered for a long time.