Hawking: Weightlessness will be 'bliss'

[Dave Monroe]

Hawking: Weightlessness will be 'bliss'
By MIKE SCHNEIDER, Associated Press Writer
Tue Apr 24, 10:51 PM ET

Astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, who has been confined
to a wheelchair for most of his adult life, expects
weightlessness to feel like "bliss" when he goes on a
"zero-gravity" flight Thursday aboard a refitted jet.

"For someone like me whose muscles don't work very
well, it will be bliss to be weightless," Hawking told
The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday.

Hawking, 65, who has Lou Gehrig's disease, will be the
first person with a disability to fly on the one of
the flights offered by Zero Gravity Corp., a space
tourism company.

Flying from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral,
Fla., the jet creates the experience of microgravity
in 25-second bursts of steep plunges over the Atlantic
Ocean. Normally, the plane conducts 10 to 15 plunges
for its passengers who pay $3,750 for the ride,
although that fee has been waived for Hawking.

On Hawking's trip, the jet will make a single plunge.
Other plunges will be made only after doctors and
nurses who are accompanying the astrophysicist on the
ride have made sure that he is enjoying it.

"We consider ... having him weightless for 25 seconds
is a successful mission," said Peter Diamandis, the
chairman and CEO of Zero Gravity. "If we do more than
one, fantastic."

Unable to use his hands, legs or voice, Hawking can
only use his facial expressions using the muscles
around his eyes, eye brows and mouth to communicate.
Otherwise, he relies on a computer to talk for him in
a synthesized voice. The computer is attached to his
wheelchair and allows him to choose words on a
computer screen via a sensor that detects motion in
his cheek.

He won't have his wheelchair and talking computer on
the jet with him, although his assistant will bring a
lap top in case he wants to communicate beyond facial
expressions.

"I hope it goes OK," Hawking said. "But there's always
a chance things can go wrong."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070425/ap_on_sc/hawking_flight


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