Pettit prepared a solution of water, soap, and glycerin, and fashioned a bubble-wand from thin wire–a loop that could be re-sized from 3.5 cm (about 1.5 inches) to more than 15 cm (6 inches) in diameter. The experiment was ready. “But first,” recalls Petit, “I decided to try a ‘dry run’ with water only, no soap.”

He inserted the wand into a zero-g beaker and pulled it out again. “To my amazement,” he says, “when the 2-inch loop was withdrawn, a thin film of water clung tenaciously to the loop. I’ve never before witnessed such a large-scale film of water.”