Stephen Hawking plans space flight in 2009

by Adam Turner

Tuesday, 09 January 2007

Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking is planning a zero-gravity aircraft flight this year in preparation for a venture into space in 2009.

Hawking hopes to be one of the first passengers aboard British businessman Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic service, reports London's Daily Telegraph in a interview to mark Hawking's 65th birthday. Virgin Galactic is set to offer two-hour sub-orbital flights as of 2009.

Struck down with motor neuron disease in his early twenties, Hawking is wheelchair-bound and speaks with the aid of a computer. He expressed interest in a space flight last December, remarking on BBC radio that "maybe Richard Branson will help me".

Perhaps the world's best known scientist, Hawking holds Isaac Newton's chair as the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University in England. He is known for his contributions to the fields of cosmology and quantum gravity, and is author of the best seller A Brief History of Time.{moscomment}

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