Stephen Hawking confirms his trip to space

Legendary physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking is all set for an 'out-of-the-world' trip. He confirmed the news of his trip to space on a popular television show, Good Morning Britain, on Monday. When British journalist and TV personality Piers Morgan asked Hawking about the meaning of life, he said: “I can tell you what would make me happiest, to travel in space. I have already completed a zero-gravity flight which allowed me to float, but my ultimate ambition is to fly into space. I thought no one would take me, but Richard Branson has offered me a seat on Virgin Galactic, and I said 'yes' immediately."

At 75, Hawking may not be the oldest person to go to space. Renowned NASA astronaut John Glenn went to space at 77, Hawking will be the first person with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis—also known as Lou Gehrig's disease—to do so.

Hawking's trip will be sponsored by Virgin Galactic, a spaceflight company founded by billionaire Sir Richard Branson in 2004. The company aims to make space accessible to more people and for purposes such as adventure travel, tourism or just for an experience, than space research. Virgin Galactic's plan to complete a flight was delayed by a range of problems and accidents, including the crash of SpaceShipTwo over the Mojave Desert in North America in October 2014.

In mid 2015, the company reportedly sent out emails to its elite clientele informing them of the plans to launch the company's VSS Unity SpaceShipTwo, a suborbital rocket-powered manned spaceplane, by end of 2017. The Virgin Galactic spaceship is designed to carry two pilots and six passengers on luxury space trips for $250,000 (approximate over Rs 1 crore) per seat.

Branson had expressed his wish to take Hawking to space. In a media statement, he had said: “Professor Stephen Hawking is one of the people I admire most in the world, an undisputed genius who has opened our eyes to the wonders of the universe, while also happening to be a kind and delightful man. He is the only person I have given a free ticket with Virgin Galactic, and he is signed up to fly as a Future Astronaut with us if his health permits it.”