Doctor's aren't so bright as they make out to be sometimes are they? Back in the 1960's Stephen Hawking 'specialists' told him his life-span wasn't looking good. Having been diagnosed with motor neurone disease the 22 year old had wrongly been advised that within years he would be six feet under. Five decades later the professor is alive and dribbling floating around 28,210 feet off the ground!
In his 'extended' life the 65 year old Professor has achieved remarkable milestones which include his best-selling book 'A Brief History In Time', a popular TV series, a slap round the face with a nurse and his most prestigious achievement to date, writing our very own introduction page.
In 2009 Hawkey is hoping to have one big small step for cripples and one giant leap for people with disabilities when his reserved seat onboard a Virgin Galactic spaceship 'takes off the ground'. Having already dropping a subtle hint in a BBC interview last November the Professor hopes Sir Richard Branson will help him for-fill one of his lifetime ambitions With a flight costing £100,000 for a sub-orbital space flight this life changing experience will give the wealthy among us a journey to remember.
In preparation for such a flight Hawking's managed to blag a free £1,915 ride onboard a Boeing 727 designed for its passengers to experience weightlessness.
The planned flight was to between to go between one and three zero gravity sessions, but actually ended up completing eight giving Hawking's around four minutes to glide around leaving his wheelchair.
So what exactly happened on the flight itself?
Well, funny you should ask that as we were just about to give you the answer. As the plane was climbing in preparation for the first of its eight dives Hawking's careers lifted him out of his wheelchair and placed him down on the floor ready for the first dive which lasted 25 seconds.
Hawking's reaction was:"It was amazing, The zero-G part was wonderful and the higher-G part was no problem. I could have gone on and on. Space, here I come!"
Before Hawking's had his flight he needed a quick check to make sure he was healthily enough. Peter Diamandis, the CEO and chairman of Zero Gravity, (the orgaisation behind the flight who gave the Professor his free ride) told the press,
"The doctors felt he was in tremendous condition. His heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen levels were all normal and perfect,"
Um, lets just hope they weren't the same Docs. who wrongly predicted his life span years ago!
