Hawking to make zero gravity flight
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Renowned theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, who authored the best-selling book, "A Brief History of Time," soon will experience a brief history with weightlessness.
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Aerospace firm EADS Astrium says it will build a plane to take fare-paying passengers on sub-orbital space rides.
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A private space plane is set to  shoot beyond Earth's atmosphere for the second time in a week  on Monday in a pioneering bid to win a $10 million prize and  prove that space is open for business.
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Also: Stephen Hawking's next goal: Space travel. Read these stories and more from around the Web on News.com Extra.
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Sir Richard Branson announces that he has signed an agreement to develop the world&#39;s first privately funded space travel. Photograph: Fiona Hanson/PA.
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Anyone who    wants to follow in the shoes of Burt Rutan and win the next big space prize    will have to build a spacecraft capable of taking a crew of no fewer than five    people to an altitude of 400 kilometers and complete two orbits of the Earth    at that altitude. Then they have to repeat that accomplishment within 60 days.
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BORDEAUX, France  - French surgeons plan to   perform the first zero-gravity operation on Wednesday aboard a   plane free-falling to create weightless conditions, in what   they hope can be a trial run for surgery on astronauts in   space.
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The US space agency NASA plans to launch an experimental aircraft Monday that it hopes will set a new world record for air speed. If weather permits, an unpiloted wedge-shaped X-43 aircraft
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British airline magnate Richard Branson announces a hugely ambitious plan for the world&#39;s first commercial space flights, saying he will send &quot;thousands&quot; of fee-paying astronauts into orbit in the next five years.
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NASA will test its latest jet-powered aircraft for the final time next week, aiming to set a world record by flying at 10 times the speed of sound.
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The Zero Gravity Corporation    has been given the thumbs up by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to    conduct &quot;weightless flights&quot; for the general public, providing the    sensation of floating in space.
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On Friday, July 27, TransVision 2007, a global conference on grand challenges, will host a weightless flight with Zero Gravity Corporation (ZERO-G(R), www.gozerog.com). Notable visionaries Ray Kurzweil and Dr. Peter H.
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French doctors have carried out the world's first ever operation on a human in zero gravity, using a specially adapted aircraft to simulate conditions in space.
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French doctors carried out the world's first ever operation on a human in zero gravity, using a specially adapted aircraft to simulate conditions in space.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Renowned theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, who authored the best-selling book, &quot;A Brief History of Time,&quot; soon will experience a brief history with weightlessness.
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A company plans to offer airplane flights that simulate weightlessness in space. Zero Gravity Corp. starting Oct. 9 will offer twice-a-month, $2,950 flights on planes that carry 27 passengers
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The renowned physicist has always had a hankering for space travel. He'll start with a brief zero-gravity flight in April. By the Associated Press.