Hawking plans zero gravity flight

Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, who authored the bestseller' A Brief History of Time' will soon fly weightless on The ZERO-G Experience™ on April 26, 2007.

Hawking, who uses a wheelchair and is almost completely paralyzed by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, will board the flight, operated by Zero Gravity Corporation, a Florida-based space tourism and entertainment company, will take off and return to a landing strip at the Kennedy Space Centre. Assistants will be onboard to help Hawking.

Hawking, 65, has said he hopes to travel on British businessman Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic service, which is scheduled to launch in 2009. The service will charge space tourists about $200,000 (about £100,000) for a two-hour suborbital trip some 87 miles (140 kilometers) above the Earth.

He also added"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"

Zero Gravity Corporation uses a modified Boeing 727 jet to deliver the feeling of weightlessness to customers. The plane climbs to about 9,000 metres at a sharp angle and then plunges 2,700 metres. Inside the descending aircraft, passengers experience 25-second snippets of zero gravity.