The British astro-physicist, Prof Stephen Hawking, has completed a flight that gave the renowned scientist, who is confined to a wheelchair, a taste of the weightlessness of space.
The Cambridge University professor, who is almost totally paralysed by Motor Neurone Disease, was able to leave his wheelchair during part of the two-hour flight on a specially modified aircraft used to train NASA astronauts.
The two-hour flight over the Atlantic Ocean took a series of dramatic dives, allowing the professor to experience 25-second spurts of weightlessness.
Professor Hawking, who is already expressed his desire to go into space, said he had enjoyed the experience.
