On June 11, 2020, the 4th Swiss Parabolic Flight Campaign launched from Air Base Dübendorf under strict pandemic restrictions. It was the world’s first parabolic flight campaign during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. In Europe and the USA all parabolic flight research campaigns had been cancelled or postponed. With the 4th Swiss Parabolic Flight Campaign it could be demonstrated in practice that all necessary protective measures can be implemented and that there is no reason to postpone large and complex research flight missions under the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.
On board the Airbus A310 ZERO-G we had 8 experiments from the fields of astrophysics and geology, with the participation of the University of Zurich, the ETH Zurich, the University of Bern, the University of Basel, the Italian Eurac Research Institute, the University of Wisconsin, and NASA. Research was conducted on the gravity response in human cells, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in weightlessness, oxygen deprivation under reduced gravity, on new pharmacological therapies for immune diseases, new therapies for muscle degeneration during immobilization, and on planet and sediment formation on the Moon and Mars. In the field of teaching, a new learning tool for students was was developed.
The flight with private participants was carried out as the 5th Swiss Parabolic Flight Campaign in September 2021.
