Zero Gravity

 

A Brief Ride In Zero Gravity

 

Hawking Will Trade Wheel Chair For Jet To Experience Weightlessness

 

Dennis Overbye

 

Stephen Hawking, The British Cosmologist, Cambridge Professor And Best-Selling Author Who Has Spent His Career Pondering The Nature Of Gravity From A Wheel Chair, Says He Intends To Get Away From It All For A Little While.

           On April 26, Dr Hawking, Surrounded By A Medical Entourage, To Take A Zero-Gravity Ride Out Of Cape Canaveral On A So-Called Vomit Comet, A Padded Aircraft That Files A Roller-Coaster Trajectory To Produce Periods Of Weightlessness. He Is Getting His Lift Gratis, From The Zero Gravity Corporation, Which Has Been Flying Thrill Seekers On A Special Boeing 727-200 Since 2004 At $3,500 A Trip.

           Peter H Diamandis, Chief Executive Of Zero G, Said “The Idea Of Giving The World’s Expert On Gravity The Opportunity To Experience Zero Gravity” Was Irresistible.

           In Some Ways, This Is Only A Prelude. Hawking Announced On His 65^th Birthday, In January, That He Hoped To Take A Longer, Higher Flight In 2009 On A Space Plane Being Developed By Richard Branson’s Company Virgin Galactic, Which Seeks To Take Six Passengers To An Altitude Of 70 Miles.

           Hawking Says He Wants To Encourage Public Interest In Space-Flight, Which He Believes Is Critical To The Future Of Humanity.

           “I Also Want To Show,” He Said In An E-Mail Interview, “That People Need Not Be Limited By Physical Handicaps As Long As They Are Not Disabled In Spirit.”

           Coming At A Time When Human Spaceflight Is At A Crossroads, His Trip Into Space Is Likely To Shine A Giant Light On The Burgeoning And Hopeful Industry Of Space Tourism.

           NASA Has Redesigned The Space Program Around Finishing The International Space Station And Sending People To The Moon Again And Then To Mars, Much To The Unhappiness Of Many Scientists Who Fear That The Growing Costs Of Human Flight Will Squeeze Science Out Of The Program.

           Some Voices, Including Martin Rees, Hawking’s Old Friend And President Of The Royal Society, Have Been Saying That Space May Be Explored More Economically And Faster By Private Entrepreneurs, Who Can Take Risks And Weather The Occasional Disaster Without Having To Worry About A Congressional Cancellation Of Financing.

           Last Summer, In Hong Kong, Hawking Said Humanity’s Ultimate Survival Depended On Colonizing The Solar System And Beyond.

           “Life On Earth.” He Said, “Is At The Ever-Increasing Risk Of Being Doped Out By A Disaster, Such As Sudden Global Nuclear War, A Genetically Engineered Virus Or Other Dangers We Have Not Yet Thought Of.”

           At An Age When Many Of This Contemporaries Are Thinking About Retirement, Hawking Seems Determined To Add Yet Another Chapter To A Tale Of Already Legendary Adventurousness And Determination, Not To Mention Scientific Achievement.

           The Image Of Him Floating Through The Stars In His Wheel Chair Has Become A Symbol Of Humanity’s Restless Curiosity And Wonder. Now It Seems That The Symbol Is About To Become The Real Thing, Sans Wheel Chair.

NYT NEWS SERVICE (TIMES INTERNATIONAL)