Hawking to fly weightless
Professor Stephen Hawking said he is "excited" about the flight
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Thursday, 26, Apr 2007 11:28
Professor Stephen Hawking, the world-renowned physicist and expert on gravity, will experience zero gravity for the first time today as he boards a specially modified plane.
He will take off from the Kennedy Space Station on the plane, known as the Zero-G Experience, which creates the same gravity as on the moon, Mars and in space.
Such flights have been used for the past 40 years to train astronauts and now the public can board them to experience what it is like to feel weightless.
"As someone who has studied gravity and black holes all of my life, I am excited to experience, first hand, weightlessness and a zero-gravity environment," said Professor Hawking.
A number of seats on today's flights were given to charities for them to auction off to raise funds, including Easter Seals and the Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation.
Dr Peter Diamandis, chief executive of Zero-G Experience, said that it is "truly an honour" to have the renowned scientist onboard.
"Our mission is to make the excitement and adventure of space and weightlessness accessible and enjoyable. Flying Professor Hawking helps us demonstrate how this unique experience, once available only to astronauts, is now available to everyone," he added.
Professor Hawking's books A Brief History of Time and Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays explore the basic laws, history and future of the universe.
Last November he was honoured with the prestigious Copley medal from the Royal Society for his "astonishing" contribution to theoretical physics and cosmology.