Hawking to Slip Bonds of Gravity

Renowned theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, who authored the best-selling book, “A Brief History of Time,” soon will experience a brief history with weightlessness.

Hawking, who uses a wheelchair and is almost completely paralyzed by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, plans to go on a weightless flight on April 26, officials at the flight operator said today.

The flight, operated by Zero Gravity Corporation, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based space tourism and entertainment company, will take off and return to a landing strip at the Kennedy Space Center. “As someone who has studied gravity and black holes all of my life, I am excited to experience first hand weightlessness and a zero- gravity environment,” Hawking said in a statement.

The modified Boeing 727 generally soars to 32,000 feet at a sharp angle and then plunges 8,000 feet so passengers can experience 25- second snippets of zero gravity during the descent.

Zero Gravity CEO Peter Diamandis said assistants will be onboard to help Hawking: “The key thing here is that weightless and personal spaceflight is something available to everyone, even someone like Prof. Hawking. This something that almost everyone can now experience.”

Zero Gravity will pick up the bill, which normally is $3,750.

Last year, Hawking publicly spoke of his desire to go into space and made an appeal to Sir Richard Branson, whose company, Virgin Galactic, is building a suborbital spaceship.

Branson has decided he will personally finance Hawking’s ticket into space — a flight that would normally cost $200,000.

Dancing with the fishes

Vincent Pastore, who played a tough-guy mobster in the early years of “The Sopranos,’ has dropped out of “Dancing With the Stars” after a week of training.

At least this time he wasn’t sent off to sleep with the fishes, the fate that befell his “Sopranos” character.

“I didn’t realize just how physically demanding it would be for me. Unable to put forth my best effort, I felt it appropriate to step aside and give someone else the opportunity,” Pastore said Wednesday.

The 60-year-old actor had joined 10 other celebrities for the fourth season of ABC’s 10-week dance competition, which returns March 19.

“ABC will be announcing a replacement shortly,” said Conrad Green, executive producer.

The new cast includes Paul McCartney’s estranged wife, Heather Mills — the show’s first contestant with an artificial limb. She told TV entertainment show “Extra” Wednesday that “it’s very unlikely” her prosthetic leg will “fly off.” To prevent such an incident, she said she will wear a special strap.

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