Stephen Hawking to go weightless in April

Alan Boyle Science editor • Profile • E-mail

British physicist Stephen Hawking, who is world-famous for his intellectual prowess as well as his physical frailty, has made a firm date with weightlessness on April 26, aboard a jet flying out of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Hawking's excellent adventure, provided by California-based Zero Gravity Corp., would represent one small step toward the 65-year-old scientist's goal of flying in space as early as 2009 — as well as one giant leap for people with disabilities.

"As someone who has studied gravity and black holes all of my life, I am excited to experience, firsthand, weightlessness and a zero-gravity environment," Hawking said Thursday in a written statement released by Zero Gravity. "I am thankful to Zero Gravity Corp. for making this experience available to the general public, especially for disabled individuals."

The zero-gravity airplane flight produces the feeling of weightlessness for about a half-minute at a time, by following a parabolic up-and-down path at an altitude of 30,000 feet. As the plane crests the top of the parabola, the passengers and other objects in the stripped-down, padded cabin essentially go into free-fall — floating in the air as if they were in orbit.

More than 2,500 fliers have gone on Zero Gravity's aerial roller-coaster ride, usually paying thousands of dollars for the privilege. Hawking, who is almost completely paralyzed due to a degenerative nerve disease called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS, would be the first quadriplegic to do so.

Hawking's flight will have an extra philanthropic twist: Several charitable organizations — including Easter Seals, the Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation, the X Prize Foundation and Augie's Quest — will each be given two seats aboard the plane to auction off for fund-raising.

Peter Diamandis, the chief executive officer of Zero Gravity as well as the chairman of the X Prize Foundation, said flying Hawking would be "truly an honor."

"Our mission is to make the excitement and adventure of space and weightlessness accessible and enjoyable," he said in the statement. "Flying Professor Hawking helps us demonstrate how this unique experience, once available only to astronauts, is now available to everyone."

Zero Gravity's specially outfitted Boeing 727-200 jet flies from the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center under the terms of a commercial agreement with NASA. Hawking's flight is scheduled during the current launch window for the shuttle Atlantis' mission to the international space station — and the zero-G flight would have to be rescheduled if it interferes with NASA's launch plans.

Space Florida, the organization charged with promoting commercial space in the state, is a sponsor of Hawking's flight.

Months of talks
The announcement that the flight is a "go" comes after months of talks involving Zero Gravity, Hawking and his representatives — and even the Federal Aviation Administration. Further talks still must take place: "Zero-G and its partner, Amerijet, are working with the FAA to put the final procedures in place," Diamandis told MSNBC.com Thursday.

The idea got its start last November, when Hawking told an interviewer that he hoped to accomplish a number of goals before he died. "My next goal is to go into space," he said. Hawking added that Virgin Galactic's billionaire founder, Richard Branson, might help him reach that goal.

That comment prompted invitations not only from Zero Gravity, but also from Virgin Galactic, which is planning to offer suborbital space tours beginning in the 2009.

"We're talking with Dr. Hawking," Jackie McQuillan, a spokeswoman for Virgin Galactic, told MSNBC.com this week. But she said there were not yet any firm arrangements to put him on a future spaceflight. Hawking has not gone through a medical checkout, she said.

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