= Drop tower
A <drop tower> is an experimental facility that releases an instrumented package into <free fall>, providing a short interval of <microgravity>. The package and its contents accelerate together, greatly reducing the support forces that normally produce apparent <weight>. <Gravity> remains present. Evacuating the drop tube reduces <air resistance> and the resulting disturbance of the falling experiment.<Zero Gravity Research Facility by NASA>[NASA Glenn, Facility Overview and vacuum drop chamber]{ref}
For release from rest through height $h$ with nearly constant gravitational <acceleration> $g$, $h=gt^2/2$, so $t=\sqrt{2h/g}$. A $132$-metre fall gives about $5.19$ seconds in this ideal model, consistent with the facility's reported $5.18$-second test interval. Such experiments reveal how <surface tension>, <fluid flow> and <combustion> behave when gravity-driven effects are suppressed.<Zero Gravity Research Facility by NASA>[NASA Glenn, 132m drop and 5.18s duration; ideal fall-time calculation derived here]{ref}
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