Imagine yourself aboard a jet that is flying wildly in arcs from altitudes of 40,000 feet to 20,000 feet in 30 seconds, creating a sense of weightlessness inside the plane.

This NASA plane, known as “the Vomit Comet,” is shown in the zero-gravity space scenes in the movie “Apollo 13.”

University of Wisconsin student Steve Steiner has experienced the ship firsthand as a participant in the Zero-G Aerogel Project.

The plane is constructed with the “aerogel” substance, which Steiner said usually exists in gel form. It is the lightest and lowest-density substance ever known to mankind, composed of between 50 and 99.5 percent air. It is amazingly strong, however, since it can support 500 to 4,000 times its weight. The internal surface area of the substance is also impressive, Steiner said.

“Aerogels can have internal surface areas ranging from 250 to 3,000 square meters per gram,” Steiner said, “meaning that a cubic inch of aerogel flattened-out, theoretically, would have more surface area than the entire football field at Camp Randall Stadium.”

Aerogel’s uses range from satellite components to radiation detectors and insulators. Steiner noted the unique potential for aerogel in the field of insulation — an inch-thick piece of aerogel is a more effective insulator than a stack of 30 panes of glass.

“Unlike other insulating materials, it is both lightweight and transparent,” Steiner said. “It is the kind of thing that in about 20 years, your grandma will have in her house and won’t even know it.”

Aerogel, which is typically made from silica, is transparent and has a characteristic blue shade to it. This coloration lies at the heart of the team’s research. Researchers at Berkeley University found the substance’s use might be possible in a zero-gravity environment.

Steiner thought he could do what the Berkeley team failed to do after extensive trials.

“Their equipment was really ‘ghetto,'” Steiner said. “The 30-second time window didn’t allow them to form conclusive data.”

Steiner thought he could use a rapid-gelation process that he had developed in high school to reduce the time needed to form alcogels, required components of the substance. Steiner won several awards for his work on the process and even holds patents on parts of it. After making its own equipment and enduring “nerve-wracking” competition with other proposals from around the country, Steiner’s team was approved for its first flight.

Things didn’t work quite as planned, however.

“We had equipment problems,” Steiner said, “and we weren’t able to get enough samples to do a scientific analysis.”

He persisted, though, and formed a second team, consisting of David Meister, Lucas Heinkel, Eric Wall, Mike Fidler and Mark Schneider. Schneider, an engineering student, recalled how he got involved.

“I got involved when a guy in one of my math classes asked me,” Schneider said. “I went to a meeting and found it interesting, so I stuck with it.”

The team flew again in Houston. This time, its dedication paid off. The group actually produced the prerequisite component for aerogels in a zero-gravity environment.

“We then took [them] back to Madison and supercritically dried them,” Steiner said. Supercritical drying produces the final aerogel product. Drying had to be done in a vessel home-built by Steiner, however, because he and his group were ahead of any technology at UW. The results were rewarding. They showed to be slightly less blue than aerogels made from alcogels produced in normal gravity.

With new members and a good deal of optimism, the Zero-G Aerogel Project is anxiously awaiting a possible flight over spring break to make certain results a reality.

Freshman Emily Janicek joined the team and eagerly awaits the flight. A chemistry major, she has helped with designing the apparatus for the experiment so far. After the flight, she will make her greatest contributions by taking readings and collecting data.

“Steve and I competed in science fair in high school,” Janicek said, speaking of how she got involved. “He wanted another chemistry major, which I am.”

In the meantime, Schneider, a returning veteran, hopes for a chance to fly on the Vomit Comet. In the last experiment, he stayed on the ground during the flight.

“There was a video screen on the ground that showed what they were doing,” Schneider said, “so we got to watch what was going on.”

Steiner recalled Schneider’s last-minute work on equipment, which saved the experiment.

“The night before the last flight day, I stayed up all night,” said Schneider, who had assisted with construction but also did much of the electrical work. “It’s good experience for engineers,” he said.

Schneider, Janicek and Meister join Steiner on this year’s team, as does Chris Wessing, an engineering mechanics and astronautics major.

National Geographic and the National Geographic Channel have covered the group’s work and assisted in obtaining funds for the project. Steiner said the group will soon know whether or not it will be cleared for a third flight.

“If we get our experiment to work, we will establish the first conclusive data on the feasibility of making transparent aerogels in zero-g,” he said. “We’ve had two years of experience, and we’ve got a ton of dedication this year, and I’m confident that we’re going to get an experiment to work.”