Stephen Hawking's Tryst with Zero Gravity

Stephen Hawking, a British theoretical physicist, savored weightlessness when he was suspended in air on a zero-gravity jet. The modified jet climbed to around 32,000 feet and made a parabolic dive back to 24,000 feet, allowing Hawking and the other passengers to experience weightlessness for about 25 seconds.

The modified Boeing 727 jet took a two-hour flight over the Atlantic during which it took a series of dramatic dives.

The 65-year-old Stephen was the first person with a disability to experience the flight by Zero Gravity Corp. He is suffering from the paralyzing disease ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), also known as Lou Gehrig's, a type of motor neuron disease. For years he has not been able to talk or move his hands and legs. He is only able to make tiny facial movements.

Hawking is a mathematics professor at the University of Cambridge who has done groundbreaking work on black holes and the origins of the universe. He also has a book, "A Brief History of Time", to his credit.

A delighted Hawking told reporters before the flight, "As you can imagine, I'm very excited. I have been wheelchair bound for almost four decades. The chance to float free in zero-g will be wonderful."

In addition to Hawking, financial backers of Zero Gravity and passengers who bid a total of $150,000 toward charities were present on the flight Hawking's personal physicians were also aboard to make sure nothing went wrong.

The jet was nothing less than a mini-intensive care unit. The jet's interior was padded to protect the weightless fliers and equipped with cameras to record their adventure.

The jet made eight parabolic dives. "We had a wonderful time. It was incredible, far beyond our expectations," said Peter H. Diamandis, the chairman and CEO of Zero Gravity Corp, the company that owns the jet.

Preparing a sub-orbital space flight in 2009 on Virgin Galactic's space service, billionaire Richard Branson pledged to pay all expenses for the flight, costing an estimated £100,000. The astrophysicist hopes the zero-gravity flight is a step toward going on a suborbital flight.