Historic Spaceflight for Accessibility
On Saturday, a German engineer with paraplegia achieved a remarkable milestone by becoming the first wheelchair user to travel to space. Michaela Benthaus, who was severely injured in a mountain bike accident seven years ago, launched from West Texas aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket alongside five other passengers, including retired SpaceX executive Hans Koenigsmann.
The 10-minute suborbital flight required minimal modifications to accommodate Benthaus, thanks to the capsule's accessible design. Blue Origin engineer Jake Mills, who trained the crew, stated that the autonomous New Shepard was developed with inclusivity in mind, "making it more accessible to a wider range of people than traditional spaceflight."
To facilitate her journey, Blue Origin provided a patient transfer board for moving between the capsule's hatch and her seat, and the recovery team laid a carpet on the desert floor after touchdown for immediate access to her wheelchair. An elevator at the launch pad already allowed ascent to the capsule.
Benthaus, 33, is part of the European Space Agency's graduate trainee program in the Netherlands. She had previously experienced weightlessness during a parabolic flight in 2022 and participated in a simulated space mission in Poland less than two years later.
"I never really thought that going on a spaceflight would be a real option for me because even as like a super healthy person, it’s like so competitive, right?" she told The Associated Press ahead of the flight. Her accident had initially dashed her hopes, as she noted, "There is like no history of people with disabilities flying to space."
When Koenigsmann approached her last year about the possibility of flying with Blue Origin, Benthaus thought there might be a misunderstanding. However, she quickly agreed, eager to experience over three minutes of weightlessness. This was a private mission, with no involvement from ESA, which has cleared reserve astronaut John McFall, an amputee, for a future International Space Station flight.
Unlike McFall, who can use a prosthetic leg for emergency evacuation, Benthaus cannot walk due to her spinal cord injury. Koenigsmann was designated as her emergency helper and assisted her out of the capsule post-flight. Benthaus was determined to do as much as possible independently, aiming to enhance accessibility both in space and on Earth.
"I really hope it’s opening up for people like me, like I hope I’m only the start," she said. While receiving positive feedback within her space community, she noted that outsiders aren't always as inclusive.
The flight also included business executives, investors, and a computer scientist, bringing Blue Origin's total space travelers to 86. Founded by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos in 2000, Blue Origin began passenger flights in 2021 and is now developing the New Glenn rocket for orbital missions from Florida and working on lunar landers.
