Physicist Hawking Signs Up As Tourist for Space Flight

Famed physicist Stephen Hawking is going to experience weightlessness on a space tourism flight taking off from Kennedy Space Center.

Hawking, a best-selling author, professor and expert on gravity, is signed up for a weightless flight from the Shuttle Landing Facility on April 26, according to Zero Gravity Corp.

The company, which is providing parabolic simulated zero-gravity flights to tourists, announced Thursday what is likely to be its highest-profile flight yet.

In the company’s written release, Hawking is quoted as saying, “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 thanked the company for making the opportunity available to him personally, and to others who are disabled.

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