Hawking to defy gravity

THEORETICAL physicist Stephen Hawking is to make a “zero gravity flight” in the US. Prof Hawking, who uses a wheelchair and is almost completely paralysed by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, plans to go on a weightless flight in Florida on April 26, the flight operator said yesterday.

The flight, operated by Zero Gravity Corporation, a Fort Lauderdale-based space tourism and entertainment company, will take off and return to a landing strip at the Kennedy Space Centre.

“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,” Mr Hawking said in a statement.