About a dozen college teams were waiting for safety officers to give final approval to fly their science experiments in NASAs KC-135A, nicknamed the "Vomit Comet."

The plane, currently sitting on the tarmac a short stroll from the hangar, makes a parabolic maneuver, much like a roller coaster with steep climbs and descents that simulate zero gravity conditions.

"This is a dream come true," said Sarah Kazukiewicz, 20, an engineering physics major at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla. "Im excited about being at the heart of the space program."

She and teammates Edward Springer and Shiju Nair spent months designing, planning, proposing and competing to get their experiment flown.

The teams experiment "Microgravity Activated Robotic Arm and Electromagnetic Field Guidance System" is simply a switch activated during weightless conditions.

"It has remote building applications and perhaps when its used in a satellite and detects gravity, it could fire thrusters to put the satellite in a higher orbit," said Springer, 22.

The experiment is housed in a Plexiglas and aluminum box. The switch is a plastic cylinder with a metal weight and spring. During microgravity conditions the spring will push the weight against contacts, opening an electrical circuit powering a screwdriver.

"Its pretty simple," said Springer, who along with Nair, flew an experiment on the "Vomit Comet" last spring. "I actually thought of it while in the shower one day."

Kazukiewiczs teammates skipped the pre-flight training since theyd been through it, but she spent all day Tuesday in class and will spend Thursday at Johnson Space Centers high altitude chamber.

"Some of the people in class are pilots, so it wasnt really interesting to them," she said. "Ive been in engineering programs that havent had anything to with flying, so I learned a lot."

Nair said hes ready to go again after flying an experiment in March.

"I was nervous before the first flight," he said. "But I stayed calm and its a great experience."

The teams experiment passed muster with the NASA safety crews with only a few additions to make such as taping down wires, replacing metal latches with Velcro strips and stowing weights that must be swapped between experiments in a padded bag strapped to the planes deck.

Embry-Riddle Professor John Olivero has watched over the four teams from the university and thinks the students learn skills they could never get in class.

"This is a labor of love," he said. "The science and technology is a means to an end. The students are learning interpersonal skills and how to work in a team."

Olivero added that students develop the projects on their own with little funding or direction from faculty.

"Im just here to observe, the students run the show."