Physicist Hawking plans brief test of zero gravity

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., March 1 (Reuters) Stephen Hawking, the British physicist and best-selling author famed for his work on time and space theory while confined to a wheelchair, will soon experience the reality of zero gravity.

Hawking, whose debilitating nerve disease has left him virtually paralyzed, is scheduled to encounter weightlessness aboard a roller-coaster flight next month, company and Florida state officials said today.

He is set to fly on April 26 from the Kennedy Space Center, which leases its space shuttle runway to a company called Zero Gravity Corp. for flights by a modified Boeing 727 jet.

The plane, called G-Force One, makes parabolic flights to a 30,000-foot (9,144-metre) altitude so passengers can experience seconds of weightlessness as the speed of the craft's descent momentarily exceeds the force of Earth's gravitational pull.

Medical issues will be the main concern during Hawking's flight. He has a degenerative nerve disease called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS -- known in the United States as Lou Gehrig's Disease -- which has left the 65-year-old without the use of his arms, legs or voice.

He is able to articulate through a specially outfitted computer system.

''As someone who has studied gravity and black holes all of my life, I am excited to experience, firsthand, weightlessness and a zero-gravity environment,'' Hawking, the author of the bestseller ''A Brief History of Time,'' said in a written statement.

''I am thankful to Zero Gravity Corp. for making this experience available to the general public, especially for disabled individuals,'' he wrote.

In addition to his popular work on such mind-bending concepts as black holes and time continuums, Hawking is credited with substantial achievements in scientific theory.

NASA and Russia use similar flights to train astronauts, cosmonauts and guest fliers to fly aboard the space shuttle and International Space Station. NASA's KC-135 has the unseemly moniker of the ''Vomit Comet,'' because the parabolic flights leave passengers with a tendency toward nausea.

Zero Gravity Corp. founder Peter Diamandis said he will fly with Hawking, who also will be accompanied by assistants and special medical equipment.

Space Florida, a commercial arm of the state government, is sponsoring Hawking's flight.

Florida-based Zero Gravity, which has flown more than 2,500 people on its commercial flight service since its debut in late 2004, typically charges 3,500 dollar plus taxes for the ride.

Hawking has expressed interest in making a suborbital space flight as well. Virgin Atlantic Airways' commercial space offshoot, Virgin Galactic, is expected to debut passenger flight service to suborbital space in 2009.

The company is partnered with famed aircraft designer Burt Rutan, who designed, built and flew the first privately owned manned spaceship to win a 10 million dollar prize in 2004.

The vehicle, known as SpaceShipOne, now hangs in the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Its successor, SpaceShipTwo, is scheduled to begin test flights next year.

Reuters DH VP0200