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Hawking @ zero-G: "Space, here I come!"

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  • Hawking @ zero-G: "Space, here I come!"

    IMO this is just terrific.

    Next stop: the VSS Enterprise (SpaceShipTwo) flight Sir Richard Branson offered him.



    Link....
    World-famous physicist takes eight turns on weightless roller-coaster jet

    KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — World-famous physicist Stephen Hawking experienced eight rounds of weightlessness during a better-than-expected airplane flight that he saw as the first step toward a trip in space.

    "It was amazing," Hawking told reporters afterward, using his well-known computerized voice. "The zero-G part was wonderful, and the high-G part was no problem. I could have gone on and on".

    "Space, here I come," he said.

    Hawking's host, Zero Gravity Corp. co-founder and chief executive officer Peter Diamandis, said before the flight that he'd claim success if Hawking had just a single half-minute float in weightlessness aboard the company's specially modified Boeing 727 jet. Afterward, Diamandis and other fliers said Hawking took eight turns with ease.

    "He would have flown more if we let him," said Noah McMahon, one of Hawking's coaches as well as Zero Gravity's chief marketing officer. "He was all smiles all the time."
    >
    Dr. Mordrid
    ----------------------------
    An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

    I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

  • #2
    For someone who has had MS as long as him, that must have been a dream. I saw video somewhere earlier and he looked elated.
    “Inside every sane person there’s a madman struggling to get out”
    –The Light Fantastic, Terry Pratchett

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    • #3
      Actually he has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (AKA ALS, Lou Gherig's disease) not MS.
      Dr. Mordrid
      ----------------------------
      An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

      I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

      Comment


      • #4
        Dr. Mordrid
        ----------------------------
        An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

        I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

        Comment


        • #5
          rock on Hawking
          "They say that dreams are real only as long as they last. Couldn't you say the same thing about life?"

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          • #6
            I wonder if he had troubles with his single anti-grav plummet. They were going to attempt multiple plummets after checking how he felt after the first one.
            <TABLE BGCOLOR=Red><TR><TD><Font-weight="+1"><font COLOR=Black>The world just changed, Sep. 11, 2001</font></Font-weight></TR></TD></TABLE>

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            • #7
              They did a total of 8 runs and later he said he wanted more

              KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — World-famous physicist Stephen Hawking experienced eight rounds of weightlessness during a better-than-expected airplane flight that he saw as the first step toward a trip in space.
              Dr. Mordrid
              ----------------------------
              An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

              I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

              Comment


              • #8
                Good to hear. The article I read this morning only talked about a single 25 second run.
                <TABLE BGCOLOR=Red><TR><TD><Font-weight="+1"><font COLOR=Black>The world just changed, Sep. 11, 2001</font></Font-weight></TR></TD></TABLE>

                Comment


                • #9
                  Hawking took 1.5 G's plus when the vomit comet went into a climb, but if he goes on SS2 he'll take ~6 G's on re-entry. Branson has said they have their engineers working on how to minimize its effects on him; special seat + padding, pressurized breathing mask etc.
                  Dr. Mordrid
                  ----------------------------
                  An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

                  I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Jammrock View Post
                    For someone who has had MS as long as him, that must have been a dream. I saw video somewhere earlier and he looked elated.
                    For someone who has contributed so much to the understanding of the universe he deserves it and more.
                    Gigabyte GA-K8N Ultra 9, Opteron 170 Denmark 2x2Ghz, 2 GB Corsair XMS, Gigabyte 6600, Gentoo Linux
                    Motion Computing M1400 -- Tablet PC, Ubuntu Linux

                    "if I said you had a beautiful body would you take your pants off and dance around a bit?" --Zapp Brannigan

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