World-renowned physicist, cosmologist, and best-selling author Professor Stephen Hawking flew weightless today aboard a commercial plane flight originating from Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility.

Hawking — aboard a Zero Gravity Corporation flight sponsored by Space Florida and The Sharper Image — experienced periods of weightlessness as the flight performed eight parabolas. It was the first time Professor Hawking, the world’s leading expert on gravity, had an opportunity to experience zero gravity.

“It was amazing. The zero-g part was wonderful,” Hawking said in a statement released by the company. “I could have gone on and on — space here I come!”

Hawking added, “I recommend the experience to everyone and I hope that many will follow me and experience weightlessness. There are a few people and organizations I would like to thank. First I’d like to thank Zero Gravity Corporation, The Shaper Image and Peter Diamandis for arranging this for me. Second, I’d like to thank Space Florida and the NASA Kennedy Space Center for being my host. The Space Shuttle Landing Facility is the first step to the moon and Mars. It is very special for me, to fly into weightlessness from here.”

“Professor Hawking’s expression said it all — the grins of sheer joy and excitement he displayed were unmistakable and no different than the giddiness and fun that all of our flyers experience,” said Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, CEO and Co-Founder of ZERO-G, “For me personally, and for all of us at ZERO-G, it has been a complete honor and thrill to give Professor Hawking this opportunity to fulfill one of his lifelong dreams.”

Professor Hawking did not fly with his wheelchair, rather, he was placed flat on his back, on the specially padded floor in the center of the large open cabin at the start of each parabola. He then floated up into the center of the cabin. ZERO-G co-founders Dr. Peter H. Diamandis and astronaut Byron Lichtenberg were positioned alongside of Hawking as he floated weightless with the assistance of nurse practitioner Nicola O’Brien, then carefully guide him slowly back down to the floor during the return to normal gravity. The onboard flight’s crew and staff included four physicians, two of which are members of Hawking’s own medical team.

The Hawking flight was also organized as a benefit for several charitable organizations, namely Easter Seals (www.easterseals.com); the Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation (www.starlight.org); the X PRIZE Foundation (www.xprize.org) and Augie’s Quest (www.augiesquest.org). ZERO-G donated two seats aboard the Hawking flight to each group, for them to then auction off. Altogether, the charities raised $144,000, which included $75,000 raised by the Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation for the two tickets it auctioned on eBay. In addition to the flight itself, the donors and other passengers that participated also enjoyed a Space Florida-sponsored dinner and lecture by Professor Hawking at the JW Marriott in Orlando on Wednesday evening, April 25.

By Marc S. Posner
SOAR Magazine

When a sudden and severe hailstorm damaged the external tank mated to shuttle Atlantis earlier this year, it appeared that astronaut Suni Williams would be spending a considerable amount of extra time aboard the International Space Station, where she has already established a number of records.

At the time, Endeavour was slated for a June launch on STS-118, a mission that would carry Williams’ successor Clay Anderson. The repair of Atlantis’ external tank has since delayed the STS-117 launch until no earlier than June 8. Endeavour will fly no earlier than August.

With those realities, NASA decided earlier today that Anderson will join the STS-117 crew. He will then replace Williams on the Expedition 15 crew and Williams will return to Earth on Atlantis.

The change increases the Atlantis crew to seven and decreases the Endeavour crew to six.

NASA managers approved the crew rotation Thursday morning after a more detailed review determined there would be no impact on space station operations or future shuttle mission objectives. Since an earlier crew rotation was possible, NASA managers decided it would be prudent to return Williams and deliver Anderson sooner rather than later, the space agency said.

With the new plan, Williams’ mission on the station will be approximately the same length as originally anticipated. Williams launched to the station Dec. 9, 2006, aboard the space shuttle Discovery as part of the STS-116 mission. During her stay, she set a record for spacewalks by a female astronaut by conducting four excursions for a total of 29 hours and 17 minutes.

Upon Williams’ return, she will have accumulated more time in space than any other woman.

Williams, a Massachusetts native, also became the first person to run a marathon in space when she participated last week in the Boston Marathon on a treadmill aboard the ISS. Williams qualified as an official participant in the marathon based on here placement in last year’s Houston Marathon.

Anderson, a Nebraska native, makes his first spaceflight when he joins Expedition 15. Discovery is scheduled to bring him home during the STS-120 mission, targeted for launch on October 20.

By Marc S. Posner
SOAR Magazine

A memorial for the NASA employee killed at Johnson Space Center on Friday is about to get underway.

The service will begin at 10 a.m. CDT Wednesday, April 25, to honor senior avionics systems engineer David Beverly, who was shot to death at the NASA center on Friday, April 20, by a long-term contract employee. Various media reports describe the shooter, William Phillips, who also killed himself, as someone who had been a good employee until recently. Some reports indicated he was about to lose his job.

The memorial will be held in Johnson’s Teague Auditorium for NASA employees and contractors. The event is not open to the public, and while the media may attend, it will it be broadcast on public NASA TV.

A female employee was held hostage during the ordeal.

“All of us at NASA are profoundly saddened by today’s tragedy at the Johnson Space Center in Houston,” NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said in a statement issued on Friday afternoon. “Our hearts go out to the families of the victims and all those touched by today’s events.”

Johnson Space Center Director Mike Coats shared these sentiments with center employees shortly after the shooting:

“A tragedy struck our NASA family today,” he wrote. “While we don’t yet understand all that’s happened, our hearts and prayers go out to the families and coworkers who lost their loved ones today and to the survivor who endured a tragic ordeal. Violence of this kind is always difficult to understand.”

Coats noted that employees could experience physical or emotional reactions to the shootings and provided them with information about resources to help with those issues.

“As we learn more about this event and its causes, we’ll share that information as we can. In the meantime, please take this time to care for yourself and the people around you.”

The shootings came at the end of a week that began with the massacre at Virginia Tech, in which more than 30 people were gunned down by a student, who then killed himself.

JSC reviewed its security procedures following events at Virginia Tech, Coats said.

The shooting took place in Building 44, a two-story structure at JSC. It is primarily designated for office space, but also contains labs to support tracking of the International Space Station and orbiting space shuttles.

As part of the immediate reaction to the shooting, the doors to mission control were locked to prevent entry.

CNN.com has used a series of photos from space — some dating back to the Apollo era — for a gallery celebrating Earth Day, which is being observed today.

It’s worth a click.

By Marc S. Posner
SOAR Magazine

The Expedition 14 crew returned to Earth early today and the mission’s commander, U.S. astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria, brought home an American endurance record in space.

Lopez-Alegria, Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin and space tourist Charles Simonyi landed safely southwest of Karaganda, Kazakhstan at 8:31 a.m. EDT.

Lopez-Alegria — who was born in Madrid, Spain, and grew up in Mission Viejo, California — arrived, along with Tyurin, at the International Space Station on September 20, 2006 aboard a Soyuz rocket. The astronaut’s 215 days on the space station established a new single-mission record for time on orbit by an astronaut.

The record eclipses the previous U.S. mark of 196 days, set by Dan Bursch and Carl Walz who were aboard the ISS in 2001 and 2002.

Two spacewalking records were also established by Lopez-Alegria during Expidition 14. His five spacewalks raised his personal total to 10 during his NASA career. In addition to that number being a new U.S. record, his cumulative time of 57 hours, 40 minutes is also a new U.S. record.

By Marc S. Posner
SOAR Magazine

NASA will continue repairing Atlantis’ external tank, delaying the launch of STS-117 until June, at the earliest. Agency managers made the decision earlier today instead of opting to replace the tank, which was damaged in a sudden hail storm in February.

The launch of the year’s first mission has already been pushed back from March to April to May and now June 8, the start of the next available window given the timeline that it will take to repair the external tank, NASA managers said.

Repair work is driving the timeline, not the launch schedule, officials said.

A June launch of Atlantis on a scheduled 11-day mission also forces a delay for Endeavour on STS-118, which had been slated for launch in late June, until August.

Both shuttle flights will have primary missions of delivering and installing truss segments on the International Space Station. The work will prepare the ISS for additional crew modules later this year. Endeavour’s mission, it’s first in 4 years, will also carry aboard the first teacher in space, Barbara Morgan. Morgan was the backup to Christa McAuliffe, who died with six others when Challenger exploded during launch in January, 1986.

Sunita Williams is scheduled to end her space station mission with a return aboard STS-118 as well.

The February 26 hail-storm damage required engineers to repair approximately 2,660 sites on the tank.

“The workforce has done an amazing job of assessing and repairing the tank so far, but the sheer volume of repairs dictates moving the launch target to June,” said Space Shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale.

Mission managers could have opted to replace Atlantis’ external tank with another that arrived at Kennedy Space Center late last week. The new tank will be mated to Endeavour for STS-118, as was originally planned.

STS-117 Commander Rick Sturckow, Pilot Lee Archambault and mission specialists Jim Reilly, Patrick Forrester, Steven Swanson and John “Danny” Olivas will continue training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, in Houston, agency officials said.

NASA managers met today to discuss the fate of the damaged external tank mated to Atlantis and are continuing their assessment of the hail impacts. A decision about use of the tank on the upcoming STS-117 mission, or substituting another in its place, is expected on Tuesday.

The hail damage to Atlantis’ external tank has forced another delay in the launch date for mission STS-117, which is now targeted for no earlier than May.

NASA managers will meet on Monday to determine if the tank will be replaced.

STS-118 officially remains targeted for late June.

Both missions will deliver and install truss segments on the International Space Station, paving the way for additional crew modules to be added later this year.