Research Platform For Experiments In Microgravity Parabolic Maneuvers Of The Swiss Air Force Fighter Jet F-5e

Modern biomedical research at the cellular and molecular level in microgravity requires frequent repetition of experiments that are usually performed in sequences of experiments and analyses. Therefore, a research platform on Earth providing frequent, easy and repeated access to real microgravity for cell culture experiments is strongly desired. For this reason, we developed a research platform onboard the military fighter jet aircraft Northrop F-5E -, Tiger II". The experimental system consists of a programmable and automatically operated system composed of six individual experiment modules, placed in the front compartment, which work completely independent of the aircraft systems. The parabolic flight profile provides up to 45 s of microgravity at a quality of 0.05 g in all axes. Access time is 30 min before take-off; retrieval time is 30 min after landing. We conclude that using military fighter jets for microgravity research is a valuable tool for frequent and repeated cell culture experiments and therefore for state-of-the art method of biomedical research.