Hawking's spaceship on sale on eBay
This is the type of story we want to be writing on a Friday. Renowned physicist and Star Trek fan, Stephan Hawking is having his spaceship auctioned off on eBay. The model space shuttle was built for a Specsaver’s ad, which appeared on TV in 1999. The ad was one of those extra-long 60 second films, in which Prof Hawking flew around the solar system whilst wearing a pair of natty glasses. The model, which goes up for auction tonight, is a metre long and was build by FM Modelmakers in London. Apparently, it cost thousands to make and includes superb amounts of detail such as navigation lights on the wing tips. For those excited by such matters, the craft is also an exact replica of Orion, the shuttle featured in Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. The only difference being that the UK model makers changed the Pan-American Airlines colours to BA-inspired British Spaceways. The model will include a framed storyboard printout of the film, signed by the ad director.
