Astronauts and dogs are weightless in space-NASA's Glenn Research Center

I’m experiencing weightlessness inside the free-falling drop package in the drop tower at NASA's Glenn Research Center. Watch me float! (Credit: NASA)

Everything inside the space station floats unless it is tied down, because the station is in a state of free fall as it orbits Earth. Human astronauts fly in a special airplane to learn what it feels like to be weightless.

I learned at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio where scientists create microgravity on Earth for inanimate objects including “pupstronauts” like me. They put me in a drop tower that allowed me to free-fall 432 feet, making me almost weightless, for 5.18 seconds. Scientists need the drop tower to see how weightlessness affects different kinds of fluids. Their experiments can help improve waste-water management and prevent fires in space.

Glenn’s Zero Gravity Research Facility is the largest of its kind in the world! It is so impressive that is has been named a historic landmark by the National Park Service. (Credit: Victoria Segovia)

I’m peering – carefully -- into the Zero Gravity Research Facility NASA's Glenn Research Center. Wow, that’s a long way down! (Credit: David DeFelice)

Traveling in the spirit of a Newfoundland dog that became one of the most famous members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Seaman Jr. will enjoy the sights of our home planet from the International Space Station,including amazing views of our national trails, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the National Trails Act and NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration 60th anniversary.

The National Park Service and Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail invite you to learn more about Seaman, Jr.’s space journey! Follow his blog (go.nps.gov/NewfieNews) for special updates to see all of the missions in space and flashbacks to his training adventures at NASA centers and on the national trails.