The Fly! research team designed the Ampu-T2 experiment to find out exactly how the mechatronic knee behaves in microgravity, and to determine the best setup of the prosthesis for running on a treadmill in space.

The Fly! team is working closely with Ottobock, a global leader in orthopedic technology, to collect data and fine-tune the performance of the prostheses for microgravity conditions.

Parabolic flights create short windows of microgravity by flying an aircraft in a curved trajectory called a parabola. During each of the 31 parabolas per flight, John and the team experienced 22 seconds of weightlessness, simulating the conditions on the International Space Station.

During the first flight, John squatted, walked and jogged in microgravity while researchers gathered data on how sensors within his smart knee responded.