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Hawking to Take Zero Gravity Ride

Posted by Zonk on from the i'm-the-mighty-stephen-hawking dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Well-known cosmologist Stephen Hawking is preparing for a once-in a lifetime trip. His goals are for even higher ground, but right now he's readying for an April zero gravity ride aboard NASA's 'vomit comet'. His ultimate goal is to take a ride on one of Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic flights, and this is a 'test run' for that more rigorous experience. Though complex math ain't no thing for Dr. Hawking, his interests here are purely inspirational. 'Hawking says he wants to encourage public interest in spaceflight, 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."'"

3 of 127 comments (clear)

  1. As a person with a progressive disability... by blind+biker · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...I find Hawking's life an immense inspiration. Rock on dude, show the world what a man can do, even if almost completely paralized! FTW!

    --
    "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
  2. Re:Future != now by MMC+Monster · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Why not educate everyone before working on nanotechnology? Why not master world hunger before working on worldwide literacy rates?

    The point is, we can work on all of these things. Provided that humans still exist 500 years from now, there will still be poor illiterate people, regardless of what planet or plane of existence we live in then.

    Let's set our sights on the stars. Maybe at least we'll hit Mars.

    --
    Help! I'm a slashdot refugee.
  3. Re:is Hawking a real physicist? by Lavene · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Some people think he's not that great as can be seen in the video The Hawking Paradox.
    For a scientist, being proven wrong is no big deal and often just as important as being right. It's just another factor in his/ her continuing work. Being wrong does not make you a bad scientist. Einstein's 'Cosmological Constant' anyone?

    Hawking has been wrong numerous times (it usually costs him a case of wine). Quite often he actually prove *himself* wrong.