Stephen Hawking plans ride of his life.
Stephen Hawking, the British cosmologist, Cambridge professor and best-selling author who has spent his career pondering the nature of gravity from a [highlight]wheelchair[/highlight], says he intends to get away from it all for a little while.
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.
Peter H. Diamandis, chief executive of Zero G, said that "the idea of giving the world's expert on gravity the opportunity to experience zero gravity" was irresistible.
http://news.com.com/Stephen+Hawking+plans+prelude+to+the+ride+of+his+life/2100-11397_3-6163473.html(if I offended anyone- sorry, couldn't resist this one!)