Hawking to Take Zero Gravity Ride

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."'"

Comments

Does this mean its open to everyone?

[LiquidCoooled]

Does this mean that anyone can get to go for a ride?
I was under the impression you had to have a certain level of fitness and stamina.

I also cannot get the thought of the south park kid shouting "Timmmeh!" whilst riding the shuttle.

Re:Does this mean its open to everyone?

[Tablizer]

I was under the impression you had to have a certain level of fitness and stamina.

Maybe they figure he has nothing to lose. As long as his head is protected, so what if he breaks his spine or loses a limb: he can't use them anyhow.

Re:Does this mean its open to everyone?

[Anonymous Coward]

Grammar ewe do not no. Eye here that we lowered standards hare in America and ewe are the result.

Rumor is....

[drfrog]

He's getting ready for his new album and is shooting video on these flights

http://www.mchawking.com/

As a person with a progressive disability...

[blind biker]

...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!

Obligatory Futurama

[evil agent]

Fry: Stephen Hawking! Aren't you the guy who invented gravity?
Hawking: Sure, why not.

Future != now

[renoX]

While I respect the man, I'm a bit baffled by things like this "he wants to encourage public interest in spaceflight, which he believes is critical to the future of humanity."

The "future" covers a huge amount of time, so I'm not sure we need to take interest in space exploration *now*. If I was the one spending money, I'll put most of the credit into Drexler's style nanotechnology research, once we 'master' nanotechnology, then tackling space exploration makes sense as either:
- at best a space elevator becomes possible and space access cost are reduced a lot,
- at worst a space elevator is impossible, but the improved materials should still reduce the cost of space access a lot and the payload themselves would be lighter.

Re:Future != now

[MMC Monster]

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.

It's a fun ride

[Jay Maynard]

I've been on that flight (courtesy of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which got to show video of me losing my lunch in return). It's a lot of fun. I hope Professor Hawking enjoys his ride.

Anyone who wants to can go on Zero G's flights, as long as they don't have a medical problem that gets in the way - and they have a doctor on staff who goes over your medical history before you go. All it takes is $3750.

Re:is Hawking a real physicist?

[Prof.Phreak]

is Hawking a real physicist?

Either that, or his voicebox computer is the first instance of AI.

Article is grossly inaccurate

[Raynor]

FTFA:

"On April 26, Hawking, surrounded by a medical entourage, is to take a zero-gravity ride out of Cape Canaveral on a so-called vomit comet, a padded aircraft that flies a roller-coaster trajectory to produce periods of weightlessness. He is getting his lift gratis, from Zero Gravity, a company that has been flying thrill seekers on a special Boeing 727-200 since 2004 at $3,500 a trip."

Zero Gravity is taking him up... NOT NASA. It's NOT the Vomit Comet (NASA's plane).

From a better article:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17156385/page/2/

"Parabolic flights can pose a risk of motion sickness or more serious health effects, but Zero Gravity's flights have been structured to minimize the risk. During a typical flight, Zero Gravity's "G-Force One" jet makes a gradual transition to weightless parabolas, and provides significantly fewer bouts of weightlessness than NASA's "Vomit Comet" jet. "

Re:is Hawking a real physicist?

[Lavene]

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.