If you fly any plane in the right way at the right speed, you can go weightless, at least for a few seconds. By effectively throwing the aircraft into orbit within the Earth's atmosphere you can enter the wonderful world of the parabolic flight. It is one of the best ways to simulate the environment of space, and is a valuable experimental tool for scientists with a special interest in microgravity. Whether they want to find out how the brain works, study the natural position of humans in space, or how water boils in a weightless environment, this is the way to do it. Take a journey into a free-floating world of the parabola in this edition of Space. More about: Bordeaux, European Space Agency, France, Space research, Space science