What did NASA have to do with Stephen Hawking's Flight?

NASA seems to be grabbing the coattails of Stephen Hawking's Zero-G flight last week. Zero-G is a private company and as far as I know, NASA had nothing to do with Dr. Hawking's flight. Alan Stern, NASA associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at Headquarters in Washington said:

"Stephen Hawking's flight to experience zero gravity is exciting. I can say from flying hundreds of parabolas aboard NASA KC-135s myself that the experience is eye-opening, exhilarating and personally fulfilling. My own experiences primarily were participating in research in space motion sickness and later, low-gravity accretion. But it's the 21st century now, and I expect more and more scientists to be conducting research in zero gravity, and even in space, as new vehicles and venues for such research open."

This wasn't a research flight. Dr. Hawking did it for the experience. Space isn't just about science. And please God don't let it become another Antarctica:

"Space is as much a place for scientists, I believe, as the arctic, Antarctic, and the deep ocean. And Dr. Hawking is showing the way."