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Stephen Hawking Will Travel To Space (skynews.com.au)

Posted by msmash on from the path-to-becoming-a-verified-astronaut dept.

Professor Stephen Hawking says he is planning to travel into space on Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic. From a report: The physicist and cosmologist, 75, said he had not expected to have the opportunity to experience space but that the Virgin boss had offered him a seat. Discussing the meaning of happiness on Good Morning Britain, he said: "My three children have brought me great joy. And I can tell you what will make me happy, to travel in space. I thought no one would take me but Richard Branson has offered me a seat on Virgin Galactic, and I said yes immediately."

77 comments

  1. Is Hawking up for the rigors of spaceflight? by xmas2003 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Awesome that Stephen Hawking gets a chance to go into (the edge) of space, but is he up for the rigors of Spaceflight? Zero-G shouldn't be an issue, but some positive G's on the way up and way down. Hopefully this has been thought through ...

    --
    Hulk SMASH Celiac Disease
    1. Re:Is Hawking up for the rigors of spaceflight? by Baron_Yam · · Score: 5, Insightful

      With his disease, he should have been dead decades ago. Even without it, I wouldn't have expected him to be around too much longer. If he wants to die unaware after blacking out due to high G acceleration on the off chance he'll get to see the Earth from space and has the opportunity to do it... good for him.

      I wouldn't insure him on his trip, but I wouldn't stop him, either.

    2. Re:Is Hawking up for the rigors of spaceflight? by MobyDisk · · Score: 4, Informative

      I don't think Virgin Galactic's flight plan involves nearly the kind of g forces one experiences on a rocket. It's basically a plane that goes really really high. Take a look at the flight plan for SpaceShipTwo, which was the previous generation.. (The image came from here)

      I really don't know what I'm talking about, so this might be TOTALLY wrong, but: It says it accelerates to 2500mph over 70 seconds. 2500mph divided by 70 seconds, in meters per second, is about 1.5Gs.

    3. Re:Is Hawking up for the rigors of spaceflight? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Maybe they can send Dr. Hawking's old grad student, Nathan Myrvhold in his place.

    4. Re:Is Hawking up for the rigors of spaceflight? by TWX · · Score: 3, Interesting

      It has been.

      Many years ago Peter Dimandis took Hawking on a ride in a private version of the Vomit Comet, where they flew up really high, put the aircraft into freefall so the occupants would also go into freefall, and then leveled off and flew up again, etc. Same training that is provided to astronauts and is used to test machinery and processes in zero-G where they only need a few minutes of effective 0G.

      Diamandis was worried about how Hawking's body would handle it, but apparently Hawking had the time of his life and they made so many passes that they had to stop because they were getting low on fuel, not because Hawking couldn't take it.

      While there is probably added risk to Hawking compared to the Vomit Comit, as the G-forces imparted are going to be higher at least on the ascent phase, if they're calculable and can be studied then it may be safe enough.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    5. Re:Is Hawking up for the rigors of spaceflight? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are assuming linear acceleration.

    6. Re:Is Hawking up for the rigors of spaceflight? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are acting like you know what the profile is and just aren't telling us. I'm guessing in reality you have no idea.

    7. Re:Is Hawking up for the rigors of spaceflight? by reboot246 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I think he will be okay. He's a tough old guy who has lived for decades with a disease that would have killed a lesser person. I hope he enjoys every minute he has left before he leaves us for good.

    8. Re:Is Hawking up for the rigors of spaceflight? by MouseR · · Score: 1

      "space" is quite marginal as far as VG is concerned.

    9. Re:Is Hawking up for the rigors of spaceflight? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not the GP, but just to point out that linear is the least possible max acceleration - any other profile will have at least some time of >1.5G. In all likelihood, since air resistance follows v^2 the profile would likely be high initial acceleration followed by a slowing phase - most aircraft follow roughly this.

    10. Re:Is Hawking up for the rigors of spaceflight? by slew · · Score: 3, Informative

      You are acting like you know what the profile is and just aren't telling us. I'm guessing in reality you have no idea.

      FWIW, according to this article SpaceShipTwo riders will experience 3Gs on takeoff and 6Gs on decent.

      As a reference point, SpaceShipOne riders experienced about ~5G of deceleration when it re-entered the atmosphere...

    11. Re:Is Hawking up for the rigors of spaceflight? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Big marketing boon if Hawking lives, but raging PR disaster if he dies.

      "The Empire will compensate you if he dies. Put him in!"

    12. Re: Is Hawking up for the rigors of spaceflight? by richardellisjr · · Score: 1

      I can't think of a more fitting honor than first man buried in space, perpetually circling the Earth in a make shift coffin. Hell even if his orbit decayed and he was cremated on entry, it would be a fitting end for such an important person to science. Even if he doesn't pass away on the trip, I would gladly pitch in to help send his body up.

    13. Re:Is Hawking up for the rigors of spaceflight? by thisisauniqueid · · Score: 1

      He's already been in zero-G

    14. Re: Is Hawking up for the rigors of spaceflight? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

      it would be a fitting end for such an important person to science.

      I don't want to belittle his achievements, but he really isn't that important to science. He is more famous for his disability than his contributions. If you mention his name, plenty of people will say "that's the smart guy in the wheelchair with the funny voice", but very few of them would know about anything that he has done. He theorized that black holes emit radiation, and came up with some hypothesis about quantum gravity ... and that's about it.

    15. Re: Is Hawking up for the rigors of spaceflight? by InfiniteLoopCounter · · Score: 1

      it would be a fitting end for such an important person to science.

      If you mention his name, plenty of people will say "that's the smart guy in the wheelchair with the funny voice", but very few of them would know about anything that he has done. He theorized that black holes emit radiation, and came up with some hypothesis about quantum gravity ... and that's about it.

      I thought he was the one who in university made the Big Bang hypothesis work out in mathematics for the first time (maybe along with Roger Penrose). This is kind of an important thing in cosmology and in my books puts him amongst the greats like Feynman, Bohr, et al before him. Of course we also have Hawking radiation named after him and all the other stuff that you mention.

    16. Re:Is Hawking up for the rigors of spaceflight? by vikrant · · Score: 1

      SpaceShipTwo can accelerate as much as 3.8 g during accent and up to 6 g during reentry. I don't think they will be sending him up if there is even the slightest risk to his health.

      Reference: http://www.parabolicarc.com/2009/12/07/spaceshiptwo-whiteknighttwo-specs-flight-profile/

    17. Re:Is Hawking up for the rigors of spaceflight? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm reminded a bit of Robert Heinlein's story "Requiem" and the physically frail D.D.Hariman.

    18. Re:Is Hawking up for the rigors of spaceflight? by kuzb · · Score: 3, Funny

      Nice try, Nathan.

      --
      BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
    19. Re:Is Hawking up for the rigors of spaceflight? by kuzb · · Score: 1

      By this you mean he's been given care and equipment quite above and beyond what normal people get access to. Tough isn't the right word. You're looking for "protected".

      --
      BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
    20. Re:Is Hawking up for the rigors of spaceflight? by Bengie · · Score: 1

      I think you're a bit off. The faster a rocket goes, the more thrust it produces, not to mention that as the rocket burns through its fuel, it gets lighter.

    21. Re: Is Hawking up for the rigors of spaceflight? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      With the style of takeoff, he won't experience high g. Two to three maybe. And for a short while. Remember, this is the air launch version of takeoff, hopefully, throttlable, so they could adjust for an elderly passenger. But cool.

    22. Re:Is Hawking up for the rigors of spaceflight? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      he has already flown in the vomit comet, so has already experienced some level of g well above 1. In addition, he has experienced zero g, so... other than the fact that he is older now, well, good on him! If Sir Richard Branson offered me a seat, I would take it too.

    23. Re:Is Hawking up for the rigors of spaceflight? by NG-Buddhist · · Score: 1

      The man was supposed to be dead in 1965. Care saved him from pneumonia in 1985, but doesn't account for the 22 years he lived in between being given a two-year window after being told he had ALS and him getting pneumonia at CERN in '85. He was tough to have lasted over two decades beyond his initial projection. He was protected from near-certain death in 1985.

    24. Re:Is Hawking up for the rigors of spaceflight? by kuzb · · Score: 1

      The man gets the best medical treatment money can buy with no wait times. Can you say the same? Can any of us?

      His situation is tough. He on the other hand is lucky enough to have top-notch round-the-clock medical care and supervision because of his status. I wouldn't begrudge him this because he is one of the important scientific minds of this age, but stop trying to make him out to be some kind of biological superman. He isn't.

      --
      BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
  2. Good on Mr. Branson by mykepredko · · Score: 2

    I guess you could call this a stunt as Dr. Hawking, at 75 and with his health issues would not be considered a likely astronaut but I think it's great that he is given this opportunity.

    Too many people have gone (Arthur C. Clarke as one) that fully expected to experience spaceflight during their lives and it's nice to see Dr. Hawking will get that opportunity.

    From somebody hoping that one day their ship will come in and get the same experience.

    --
    Mimetics Inc. Twitter
    1. Re:Good on Mr. Branson by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Interesting

      at 75 and with his health issues

      Since his days are numbered, maybe he figures it's worth the risk, and being the first civilian to die in space maybe has a record-book appeal to it. Go in style. Beats the nursing home.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    2. Re:Good on Mr. Branson by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      i think that honor goes to Christa McAuliffe.

    3. Re: Good on Mr. Branson by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I doubt he's going because he wants to be the first person to die in space. He's 75 not 95.

    4. Re: Good on Mr. Branson by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The Challenger's crew died in the explosion while in the earth's atmosphere.

    5. Re:Good on Mr. Branson by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is actually a better reason. It is the absolutely *least* painless way to die. No other way is so thorough and fast. You are talking about a rocket engine explosion. That will turn you into ash faster than you can blink. Honestly, if I had a choice of ANY method of death, it would be doped up and by rocket explosion. I cannot actually think of a less painless way to die.

    6. Re:Good on Mr. Branson by Marquis231 · · Score: 1

      Too many people have gone (Arthur C. Clarke as one) that fully expected to experience spaceflight during their lives and it's nice to see Dr. Hawking will get that opportunity

      You touched a nerve there. Of all people I would of been very happy to see him experience space for himself. Rest in peace Mr Clarke

    7. Re: Good on Mr. Branson by fnj · · Score: 2

      The Challenger's crew died in the explosion while in the earth's atmosphere.

      Almost certainly not. The crew cabin remained in one piece, essentially structurally intact and quite possibly pressure-intact, until it struck the water with a 200 g impact. The crew were killed either by depressurization (perhaps) or by the impact with the water (at the latest). During disintegration of the flimsy main vehicle in the air, the crew were subjected to no more than 20 g, unlikely to have mechanically killed, or even severely injured them.

      By the way, the big white cloud you saw on breakup was mostly fuel and oxygen vapor, not explosion.

    8. Re: Good on Mr. Branson by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      Perhaps I should have said "first tourist" instead of "first civilian".

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
  3. What exactly has he accomplished? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    I'm not an astrophysicist, so I'm not totally clear on what he has actually accomplished. Can anybody here clarify?

    From what I've been told, he came up with some theories about black holes or something like that. It's not really the kind of stuff we can really prove, though, and there has been some speculation that he was wrong about at least some of his theories.

    So his professional accomplishments seem to be limited to what scientists are expected to do: come up with theories, and try to prove them.

    Other than that, he has overcome, to some extent, a disability. But he's hardly unique in that regard. There are many people who have done that, and none of them have received anywhere near the attention he has.

    I've seen him on TV now and then. But again, that's not really remarkable these days.

    I'd really like to believe that he's a celebrity for something truly noteworthy that he has accomplished, but I'm at a loss to see what that is. He theorized like scientists are expected to do, and like a lot of theories they may have been partially or wholly wrong. He overcame a disability, but lots of people have done that. He's been on TV, but again, lots of people have done that.

    What separates Hawking from the many other scientists and/or disabled folks out there? Is he just famous because he's known for being famous?

    1. Re:What exactly has he accomplished? by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Informative

      He applied QM to black holes to determine that they inevitably must radiate energy, and thus are finite and will eventually evaporate. Why Hawking Radiation has yet to be observed (darned hard), it's one of the first critical examples of how Quantum Mechanics would effect a Classical system (in this case, a black hole, a singularity born out of General Relativity). So yes, it's pretty darned important.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    2. Re:What exactly has he accomplished? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Science is hard! Let's go shopping!

    3. Re:What exactly has he accomplished? by silas_moeckel · · Score: 1

      Hawking radiation for one and he did the mathematical proofs for others that's about as close as you get in astrophysics.

      --
      No sir I dont like it.
    4. Re:What exactly has he accomplished? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      Unless it's wrong (I'm not sure whether it is or not), his Wikipedia article states:

      By 2003, consensus among physicists was growing that Hawking was wrong about the loss of information in a black hole.[178] In a 2004 lecture in Dublin, he conceded his 1997 bet with Preskill, but described his own, somewhat controversial solution, to the information paradox problem, involving the possibility that black holes have more than one topology.[179][163] In the 2005 paper he published on the subject, he argued that the information paradox was explained by examining all the alternative histories of universes, with the information loss in those with black holes being cancelled out by those without.[162][180] In January 2014 he called the alleged loss of information in black holes his "biggest blunder".[181]

      Again, unless it's wrong (and again, I'm not sure whether it is or not), that same Wikipedia article also suggests he was very wrong about the Higgs boson:

      As part of another longstanding scientific dispute, Hawking had emphatically argued, and bet, that the Higgs boson would never be found.[182] The particle was proposed to exist as part of the Higgs field theory by Peter Higgs in 1964. Hawking and Higgs engaged in a heated and public debate over the matter in 2002 and again in 2008, with Higgs criticising Hawking's work and complaining that Hawking's "celebrity status gives him instant credibility that others do not have."[183] The particle was discovered in July 2012 at CERN following construction of the Large Hadron Collider. Hawking quickly conceded that he had lost his bet[184][185] and said that Higgs should win the Nobel Prize for Physics,[186] which he did in 2013.[187]

      So there's at least some doubt about his work and his claims. Scientists can't be expected to be infallible, of course. But it isn't encouraging to read stuff like those parts of his Wikipedia article.

    5. Re:What exactly has he accomplished? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      The Wikipedia article about Hawking radiation states:

      In September 2010, a signal that is closely related to black hole Hawking radiation (see analog gravity) was claimed to have been observed in a laboratory experiment involving optical light pulses. However, the results remain unverified and debatable.[8][9]

      and:

      Under experimentally achievable conditions for gravitational systems this effect is too small to be observed directly.

      and:

      However, in September 2010 an experimental set-up created a laboratory "white hole event horizon" that the experimenters claimed was shown to radiate an optical analog to Hawking radiation,[25] although its status as a genuine confirmation remains in doubt.[26]

      So to me it sounds like it's a theory that can't be easily verified, and the attempts to verify it so far have not been conclusive.

      Contrast this with the physicists of the first half of the 20th century. Although their theories were, at first, highly theoretical, there has at least been some very conclusive proof that they were correct.

      Why should we heap praise on a scientist who merely came up with a theory that hasn't yet been validated, and that can't easily be validated?

      What makes his theory more important than the various other theories that lesser-known scientists have developed, especially the theories that can be proven to be at least somewhat correct?

    6. Re:What exactly has he accomplished? by pseudofrog · · Score: 4, Interesting

      If nothing else, he's been an effective popularizer of science. A Brief History of Time has been a tremendous success, and it's served as inspiration for many of today's scientists while teaching the public a bit about how the world works. Pretty cool.

      Saying he has "a disability" is a massive understatement. The man's body has been effectively useless for decades now, serving only to keep his brain ticking and providing a cumbersome and exhausting means to slowly communicate. But he continues to engage the public and maintain a sense of humor. So that's something.

      Sure, he's a celebrity. But he's also done some great things even if you discount all of his scientific accomplishments. He's served well as the face and (robo-)voice of science for a while. I think he's worthy of a short jaunt up to space.

    7. Re:What exactly has he accomplished? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > I'd really like to believe that he's a celebrity for something truly noteworthy that he has accomplished, but I'm at a loss to see what that is

      Why would he have to accomplish something truly noteworthy, other than progress science? The difficult thing to imagine is that someone is brilliant and has contributed to physics while being trapped in a near-motionless husk, without producing a widget or revelation that the average geek would consider useful.

      Hawking has created useful abstractions, descriptions and proofs to fill in the gaps left by other scientists, which is the majority of "work" in physics and for which there is an inexhaustible supply...Take a moment and consider each Doctorate in the US is based on a study that has never been done before, but could be. Most of those experiments-to-be include data collection and experimentation. In theoretical physics and some of astrophysics, the same applies, but you cannot perform experiments or collect data within specific realms.

      He's also managed to build a personality and be considered likable. There is a cult of personality for some intellects. Perhaps some of his less likable physical and mental traits were stunted by the ALS.

      Maybe there's something to the metaphor about the usefulness of theoretical physics vs a paralyzed man in a wheelchair. What he has done is physics and become a big-budget movie subject because of it. How unremarkable is that (since anyone can get on TV, amirite)?

    8. Re:What exactly has he accomplished? by MightyMartian · · Score: 3, Informative

      So there was vigorous debate and Hawking was wrong! Wow, that must mean Hawking is totally useless.

      As to Hawking radiation, the point wasn't that he was right (he's not actually wholly wrong either), but rather that it was one of the first major attempts to unify QM and GR, to look for a way in which classic and quantum mechanics both can product phenomena. But some other areas in which he has worked are:

      Among the myriad other scientific investigations pursued by Hawking over the years are the study of quantum cosmology, cosmic inflation, helium production in anisotropic Big Bang universes, "large N" cosmology, the density matrix of the universe, the topology and structure of the universe, baby universes, Yang-Mills instantons and the S matrix, anti-de Sitter space, quantum entanglement and entropy, the nature of space and time and the arrow of time, spacetime foam, string theory, supergravity, Euclidean quantum gravity, the gravitational Hamiltonian, the Brans-Dicke and Hoyle-Narlikar theories of gravitation, gravitational radiation, holography, time symmetry and wormholes.

      From http://www.physicsoftheunivers...

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    9. Re:What exactly has he accomplished? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

      He applied QM to black holes to determine that they inevitably must radiate energy, and thus are finite and will eventually evaporate.

      Only for very large values of "eventually". A black hole the size of the sun would take 10e67 years to evaporate. The sun contains about 10e57 hydrogen atoms. So that means it would lose the mass of one hydrogen atom every 10 billion years, which is roughly the current lifetime of the universe. To lose an entire gram would take a hundred trillion trillion times as long as that.

    10. Re:What exactly has he accomplished? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      his `hawking radiation' is not wrong. that's not what's debated. it's whether information that falls into a black hole is lost... that part currently argued to be wrong (and even hawking himself now doesn't believe information is ``lost'').

      that said, there are very good reasons to think that information *is* lost though.

    11. Re:What exactly has he accomplished? by DarthVain · · Score: 1

      Outside of his many academic accomplishments, him simply being alive gives a lot of people hope probably.

      Most people that get diagnosed with ALS are dead within 2-4 years, many times because it is hard to diagnose or is miss-diagnosed. Also it is incurable, and impacts different people differently. Hawking was diagnosed as a relatively young man, and is still around 40+ years later, now talking about going to space.

  4. Such Charity by WrongMonkey · · Score: 5, Funny

    It is very generous of Richard Branson to offer a free flight on his imaginary spaceship. And to do so in such a discreet manner surely means this is not a ploy get free headlines for his struggling company.

    1. Re:Such Charity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      10,000 internet points for you good sir!

    2. Re:Such Charity by Obfuscant · · Score: 0
      Not headlines, but to stave off charges from the US Office That Deals With of Such Things that his spaceships are not ADA compliant. I mean, we almost lost a bunch of UCLA video taped lectures, we wouldn't want to have to shut down the only operating space flight system until they built a ramp ...

      What better way to prove ADA compliance than this?

    3. Re: Such Charity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Does it have a transgender bathroom?

    4. Re:Such Charity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm sure some greedy troll lawyer will find a way to sue NASA to equip every spacecraft with ADA compliant ramps, toilets, seats, etc that uses NASAs facilities... or pay a hefty settlement out of court.

    5. Re:Such Charity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Virgin is a UK company and they don't have to worry about American labor laws. But go on with injecting your MAGA BS into every article you comment on here.

    6. Re: Such Charity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      God, I don't know when Yelp started asking that, but now they are asking even for businesses that bathrooms are completely irrelevant.

    7. Re:Such Charity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thanks for the idea!

    8. Re:Such Charity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      we wouldn't want to have to shut down the only operating space flight system

      I hope you're not talking about Virgin Galactic.
      Are they even operating?
      Are they really a space flight system?

      They are more like a not-operating, goes really high aircraft.

    9. Re: Such Charity by iamacat · · Score: 1

      Yes, you will be happy to know that bathrooms in space are 100% unisex. However you might need to bring along an adapter to achieve hermetic seal with any non-standard equipment that you might have. Remember that a space bathroom needs to suck your stuff off or it will float around the cabin in tiny droplets.

      On that subject, please don't try the pull out method if you get busy with a crewmate.

    10. Re: Such Charity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Remember that a space bathroom needs to suck your stuff off

      Now that's what I call a full service bathroom. -PCP

    11. Re: Such Charity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Virgin is a brand name, not a company. Many companies use the brand name, and not all are even owned by Branson. I don't know where the space company is incorporated, but it could easily be in the USA.

  5. Shameful Reporting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "...but that the Virgin boss had offered him a seat."

    Should they really be reporting on this bosses sex life? What is this Gawker?!?!?

  6. Sorry by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I was about to make a joke about frozen vegetable... But..no

  7. buh bye R2D2 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    I hope the aliens will school you hard core then eat you up.

  8. If there was a GoFundMe page... by burhop · · Score: 2

    ... I'd so chip in a few $$ for this.

    Worst case, Dr. Hawkings dies doing what he loves.

    Best case, aliens pick him up, think humans are way smarter than we are, and appoint us leaders of the Galaxy.

    1. Re:If there was a GoFundMe page... by Baron_Yam · · Score: 1

      Actually, Hawking is afraid of aliens. That seems a little weird for a guy who has spent his life studying the physics of the heavens, but there ya go.

    2. Re:If there was a GoFundMe page... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...coat his wheelchair in gold, and attach a FTL transport to it, for other trips he hardly planned on (hint: towel)

    3. Re:If there was a GoFundMe page... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Best case, aliens pick him up, think humans are way smarter than we are, and appoint us leaders of the Galaxy.

      So the Galaxy could experience something like what the USA is experiencing now.

    4. Re:If there was a GoFundMe page... by thygate · · Score: 1

      aliens pick him up, think humans are way smarter than we are, and appoint us leaders of the Galaxy.

      What ?! One Trump isn't enough for ya ?

    5. Re:If there was a GoFundMe page... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      His reasoning on that subject is sound. Were aliens to show up in the solar system, that means by definition their technological level is far beyond ours. Therefore, we're unlikely to be able to stop them if they decide we don't get to live anymore.

  9. Definetly a stunt by DerekLyons · · Score: 1

    Oh, it's definitely a stunt - Branson needs publicity to divert attention away from the fact that SpaceShip Two is well over a decade late and still at least a year (and very likely more) from operations.

  10. All about Trump by Topwiz · · Score: 1

    That was a badly written story, most of it was about how Hawking hates Trump. Not much about his upcoming space flight. It should have had some information about when VG expects to be able to launch the first trip with paying customers. For all we know, Hawking will be long dead by then.

  11. Stephen Hawking will travel to space by Trogre · · Score: 1

    When?

    While I hold him in high regard and wish him the very best, I suspect by the time the travel actually happens, he will be travelling there in an urn.

    --
    "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
  12. what a waste by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sending people to space is a useles waste of money.

    Stephen Hawking as a brilliant scientist knows this. It is a shame to see that he got indulged into supporting a waste of energy, waste of ressources, waste of engineering.
    This marketing just leads to false belief in the hope of men in space.

  13. The Hawk-man cometh! by Chas · · Score: 1

    And he's bringin' Doomsday!

    --


    Chas - The one, the only.
    THANK GOD!!!
    1. Re:The Hawk-man cometh! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dayman will save us!

  14. Stephen Hawking is lame. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I bet all those Playboy mansion lapdances built his ego up to SpayseX as far as a greenscreen and wires.

    It will be another expensive series of photographs, with no ethical benefit to the public.

    I prefer spaceflights from Hollywood because it is cheap vacation and I cant wait for flying bipedal drones so I can land in a themepark of rollercoasters under kids ticket price and experience the rides without risking my health.

    1. Re:Stephen Hawking is lame. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic is a private enterprise, why does it require a 'benefit to the public'??? So, in short, fuck off, everyone doesn't have to only do what benefits you. You are a prick.

  15. Re: What a way to go! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I wanted to be exactly that when I grew up.
    Not the astronauts. Challenger. I thought it was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen.

    Let Hawking go up there. Any incident up there is infinitely better than weeks of agony in palliative care.

  16. Can somebody please... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    do something about his under-bite? It is undignified.