Stephen Hawking: I Can Somersault!
Interesting StuffStephen Hawking was born with the paralyzing disease, ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. But today he is flying in the air. The disease which confines him to a wheelchair for life and leaves him unable to move any muscles on his body except his face, does not deter him from joining the two-hour space program which creates 25-second bursts of weightlessness as it makes parabolic plunges. Hawking had a taste of total weightlessness and freedom during the Zero Gravity jet flight which pleasures him excessively. He made two full flips or somersaults as though he did not have his disability. The jet flight leaves him hunger for more and his next mission: a suborbital flight.
While Hawking has contributed a lot to science through his groundbreaking research on black holes and the origins of the universe, he now reaps the rewards of technology. His is a tale of indomitable human spirit and talent. The renowned mathematics and physics professor at the University of Cambridge believes in the impossible; his story is a miracle of life.