( CNN ) -- It 's a fun way to address a serious problem . Weightless teachers float around inside a modified 727 with padded walls and ceilings . Many in the U.S. tech industry worry that not enough students are pursuing careers in engineering , math , and science . So the Northrop Grumman Foundation is sending teachers on the ride of their lives -- a weightless experience aboard a plane chartered from the Zero Gravity Corporation . Northrop , an aerospace and defense company , says the idea is for teachers to take their exhilarating experience back to their classrooms -- and inspire in their students a love of science . Northrop Grumman spokesman Tom Henson said the Weightless Flights of Discovery program is aimed at middle school teachers . `` Information has shown us that if kids are going to lose an interest in math and science , it 's going to be during these years , '' he said . `` So we 've targeted these teachers to try to illustrate for their students how math and science can be cool and relevant and applied to their daily lives , and just fun . '' The program is three years old . This year , Northrop conducted weightless flights in California , Florida , Illinois and Georgia . Watch teachers experience zero gravity » . From a pool of applicants , Northrop selected 60 teachers from each location . Before each flight , the teachers took part in a workshop in which they designed experiments to be conducted on the flight . The experiments were to test Newton 's Laws of Motion ; for instance , seeing how objects fall in microgravity in order to explain the difference between mass and weight . The flights took place aboard a modified 727 . There are seven rows of seats in the back of the jet ; the rest of the cabin is open and windowless , except for the emergency exits . The floors , walls and ceilings are padded . CNN accompanied the teachers on one of the Georgia flights , which took off from Atlanta 's airport . The plane performed its weightless maneuvers over a chunk of airspace 100 miles long by 10 miles wide over the Atlantic Ocean . Specially trained pilots took the plane into a series of parabolas , essentially a series of up-and-down curves . As the 727 crested and descended each parabola , it created a microgravity environment that lasted about 30 seconds . The plane flew 15 parabolas . The first simulated the gravity felt on Mars ( 1/3 the gravity of Earth ) and the next two recreated gravity felt on the moon ( 1/6 Earth gravity ) . This helped the teachers acclimate to the weightlessness of zero gravity felt on the last 12 parabolas . Tracy Heffelfinger , who teaches at Little Mill Middle School in Forsyth County , Georgia , said the experience gave her a great appreciation for what astronauts have to do in space . `` As a science teacher , you 're told what all affects how you move , and that gravity is a great portion of that , '' she said . `` It 's another thing to get up there and experience it . I would try things like , I just wanted to hover off the ground a little bit , but the problem is if you push up enough to get off the ground , there 's nothing to stop you and you keep going until you hit the ceiling . '' Heffelfinger said the experience will make it a lot easier to bring science to life for her students . Northrop 's Henson said the flights have already helped the 780 teachers who participated in the program in 2006 and 2007 , according to a recent Northrop poll of those teachers . `` Roughly 92 percent said there 's been a noticeable increase in their students ' overall interest in science since this program , '' he said . `` Almost 75 percent saw an increased number of students expressing a desire to continue studying science , which is important , because we 're trying to keep students from dropping out of science in the middle school years . '' Henson also said nearly 78 percent of the educators reported a rise in the number of students planning to pursue a math- or science-related career . `` I think the program is reaching who it needs to reach , '' he said . Northrop estimated 31,000 students have gotten the `` science is cool '' message from this program . Aboard the Atlanta flight , teachers screamed in delight and amazement as they defied gravity . They launched themselves like Superman , drank floating globs of water and tossed each other around like balls , in addition to performing a variety of experiments . A few educators experienced motion sickness . Parabolic flight is the same technique used to train astronauts , and the NASA jet is nicknamed `` the vomit comet . '' But astronauts are sent on 40 or more parabolas per flight , while the teachers experienced only 15 , which minimized the discomfort . Heffelfinger said she had no problems , even though her students had teased her about the possibility . `` I 'm very proud of the fact that I 'll be able to show them my unused barf bag , '' she said with a laugh .
The Northrop Grumman Foundation is sending teachers on zero - gravity plane missions . They hope experience will help teachers inspire in their students a love of science . The aerospace industry fears that fewer students are pursuing careers in tech education . More than 800 students have participated in the two - year program .