  In the absence of gravity, surface tension dominates over the behavior of
liquids. While this often poses a challenge in adapting Earth-based
technologies to space, it can also provide an opportunity for novel
technologies that utilize its advantages. In particular, surface tension drives
a liquid body to a constant-mean-curvature shape with extremely smooth
surfaces, properties which are highly beneficial for optical components. We
here present the design, implementation and analysis of parabolic flight
experiments demonstrating the creation and in-situ measurement of optical
lenses made entirely by shaping liquids in microgravity. We provide details of
the two experimental systems designed to inject the precise amount of liquid
within the short microgravity timeframe provided in a parabolic flight, while
also measuring the resulting lens characteristics in real-time using both
resolution target-imaging and a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensing. We
successfully created more than 20 liquid lenses during the flights. We also
present video recordings of the process, from the lenses creation during
microgravity and up until their collapse upon return to gravity. To the best of
our knowledge, this is the first time that a purely liquid lens has been
created in microgravity, which demonstrates the feasibility of creating and
utilizing liquid-based optics in space.
