Eight-year-old boys dream of being superheroes - flying high above the clouds with nothing to limit themselves but their imaginations - and Danner Cronise got his dream, courtesy of his dad, Ray, co-founder of Zero Gravity Corporation. In the process he set the record as the youngest person to experience zero-gravity flight.
Danner was joined by his father Ray, and older sisters Erin (10) and Alex (12). A NASA engineer for more than 15 years, Ray Cronise had a unique and personal reason for wanting to see his children enjoy weightlessness first hand. "It is awe inspiring to be able to take your kids on such a memorable experience. Being exposed to these kinds of adventures kindles curiosity and keeps them dreaming," said Ray.
Founded in 1993 and headquartered in Las Vegas, ZERO-G is led by a team of veteran astronauts and experienced business leaders. The company was co-founded by X PRIZE Chairman and space visionary, Dr. Peter H. Diamandis; and veteran astronaut, Dr. Byron K. Lichtenberg.
Diamandis said, "The most iportant part about the Cronise's family adventure is that it underscores what is at the core of the ZERO-G philosophy. We break the paradigm of this incredible sensation of floating being reserved for fairy tales or second-hand experiences and enable people to really fly and feel and see it first-hand. There is no comparison for the experience that ZERO-G delivers -- it is pure exhilaration from the moment you arrive, throughout the flight, and lives on through many talks with others that have never been."
The experience offered by ZERO-G is the only commercial opportunity on Earth for individuals to experience true "weightlessness" without going to space. The ZERO-G Experience consists of a brief training session for passengers followed by a 90-minute flight aboard G-Force One. The flight includes 15 weightless experiences (parabolas) that last approximately 30 seconds each and range from low-gravity environments typical of the moon (1/6 G) and Mars (1/3 G) to complete weightlessness; ZERO-G delivers twice the amount of weightless time achieved in a typical sub-orbital flight into space.
Since launching the ZERO-G Experience to the general public in September 2004, the company has conducted more than 100 weightless flights and flown over 3,000 passengers.
