| Space Adventures, which has arranged orbital | | | | conducted by Zero Gravity, during which |
| space flights for "space tourists" since | | | | Hawking experienced the feeling of |
| 2001, is the only firm to date which brokers | | | | weightlessness felt by orbiting astronauts |
| space trips for amateur astronauts, including | | | | was a trial run for a possible later flight |
| Charles Simonyi and four others who have | | | | to space. Hawking's zero-gravity trip was |
| signed on for the space jaunts. As stated in | | | | slightly modified to allow for his frail |
| an earlier article, Simonyi paid an estimated | | | | condition, with shorter periods of |
| $20 million to $25 million for a 13-day trip | | | | weightlessness and a somewhat easier pullout |
| to the international space station, with | | | | from the planes descent. Four doctors and two |
| Space Adventures and Russia's Federal Space | | | | nurses monitored vital signs throughout the |
| Agency teaming up to make the trip possible. | | | | flight, and life-saving equipment was on |
| | | | board. The zero-gravity flight was a success, |
| Russia's Interfax News Agency reports that | | | | with Hawking negotiating to take eight turns |
| Fyodor Yurchikhin, commander of the | | | | instead of the scheduled six and performing |
| expedition, and Charles Simonyi discussed the | | | | gymnastic turns in the air. |
| possibility that billionaire Bill Gates is | | | | |
| considering taking his own space trip. Stacy | | | | Hawking expressed hope that his spaceflight |
| Tearne, spokesperson for Space Adventures, | | | | would promote commercial space travel, which |
| said that Gates had not yet contacted the | | | | he believes to be a necessary next step in |
| company about the possibility of an orbital | | | | mankind's future. He has often expressed the |
| space flight, but the company already has the | | | | opinion that "life on earth is at an |
| next space adventured in mind, and an | | | | ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a |
| announcement about the next client could be | | | | disaster such as sudden global warming, |
| coming soon. | | | | nuclear war, a genetically engineered virus |
| | | | or other danger." Only by involving private |
| Internationally renowned physicist Stephen | | | | enterprise to make commercial space travel |
| Hawking, known for his ground-breaking | | | | possible can a portion of the human race be |
| theories about the origin of the universe and | | | | moved permanently off the planet to ensure |
| black holes, has also set a goal of taking a | | | | the survival of the human species in the |
| rocket trip to the verge of outer space, | | | | event of a global disaster on Earth. Space |
| possibly on a craft being developed by Virgin | | | | tourists such as Charles Simonyi, Stephen |
| Galactic, due to be in service by about 2009. | | | | Hawking and, possibly, Bill Gates, are |
| A zero-gravity airplane flight in April 2007, | | | | helping to make this dream a reality. |