Stephen Hawking Rides the Vomit Comet

"It was Amazing"

"It was amazing," said Hawking.

The 75-year-old Stephen Hawking rode the "Vomit Comet" for free and attained 25-second periods of weightlessness. Commenting on the wild up and down ride on his physique he said, "The zero-G part was wonderful and the higher-G part was no problem." [fayobserver]

Since 1973, jet-propelled aircraft in parabolic flight provide momentary weightlessness for astronaut training and research.

During parabolic flight path, a person senses apparent weight differences. At the apex of the parabolic curve, acceleration slows and then the aircraft falls, resulting in zero-G force in apparent weightlessness.

Accelerating against gravity acts in the reverse. A G-force of 'one' feels like twice your normal weight. The human threshold is around 8 Gz wearing a G-suit and some fighter pilots have experienced acceleration of up to 9 Gz. G-suits are liquid filled pressure suits used to avoid have the fighter pilot blackout due to blood pooling at their feet. The highest G-force experienced was 15 Gz within a centrifuge.

The individually customized foam padded jet allowed the contorted Hawking, to become unyoked from the wheelchair that has confined him for the last forty years. Diagnosed at the age of twenty-one, he was expected to live only three to five years. At the celebration of his 65th birthday on January 8, 2007, Hawking announced his plans for a zero-gravity flight in 2007. [wiki]

Due to the incapacitating disease known as Lou Gehrig's disease or Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Stephen Hawking is only able to use a small number of facial muscles. With the assistance of a contingent of medical doctors and registered nurses, he floated weightlessly within the aircraft.

Medical equipment sufficient for a mini-intensive care unit also was on board, said Dr. Edwin Chilvers, Hawking's personal physician. [canada.com]