Youngest person to experience microgravity
In Ecuador, on 19 June 2008, 7 year old Jules Andre Nader Drouet became the youngest person to have flown in a microgravity aircraft. After a month of strenuous training and preparation, Jules took part in a flight which completed 18 parabolas and a total of 282 seconds in zero and lunar gravity. The attempt was organised by the Ecuadorian Civilian Space Agency in association with the Ecuadorian Air Force.
Jules and his brother Gerard Nader, also completed an experiment aboard the aircraft which consisted of bursting a water-filled balloon in order to view its behaviour in zero gravity. The attempt was part of a larger project – Poseidon – which looked to observe children’s motor skills in zero and lunar gravity.
Upon landing, Jules was presented with a certificate by Mariamarta Ruano-Graham, Guinness World Records adjudicator. When asked how he felt after having completed the one hour flight Jules stated ‘I feel great, I was like Spiderman!’ - referring to the way he was able to ‘crawl’ on the aircraft’s ceiling. Commander Ronnie Nader, the first Ecuadorian astronaut and Jules’s father stated, ‘Although this is a record for Ecuador, we look forward to the possibility of working with other countries to gain further ground in the field of aeronautics’.
23 June 2008