Engineering: Vomit Comet Zero G Roller Coaster

Vomit Comet Zero G Roller Coaster

California-based attraction design and production firm BRC Imagination Arts, has proposed a zero gravity roller coaster designed to mimic the weightless sensations created by nasa’s ‘weightless wonder’ (colloquially nicknamed the ‘vomit comet’), the KC-135A aircraft used to test space equipment and train astronauts.


The attraction relies on an extremely precise linear acceleration system to continually accelerate and decelerate the craft, adjusting its speed and direction relative to the weight and distribution of passengers in order to achieve the sensation of microgravity.

In the first phase, coined ‘the throw’, the vehicle accelerates, reaching a speed of over 100 miles per hour directly upwards and causing passengers to experience 2 g. The craft then slightly and gradually slows its upward speed so as to precisely match the upward trajectory of its contents, thus causing the sensation of zero gravity.

In the third step, the ‘going down’, the vehicle moves downward at a pace equivalent to that of the now ‘falling’ passengers, extending the experience of microgravity. Lastly, ‘the catch’ involves rapid deceleration, causing passengers to again experience 2 g as they slow to a stop.