She just became the first wheelchair user to travel to space

Michaela Benthaus, a 33-year-old German aerospace and mechatronics engineer at the European Space Agency, just became the first wheelchair user ever to travel past the Kármán Line — a common demarcation for outer space that lies 100 kilometers (62 miles) above sea level.

Her history-making trip aboard a Blue Origin New Shepard capsule took flight on Saturday morning, lifting off from the company’s launch facilities near Van Horn, Texas.

The mission, known as NS-37, is the 16th suborbital space tourism launch carried out by Blue Origin, the Jeff Bezos-funded rocket venture founded in 2000 with the aim of expanding access to space — even for enthusiasts who don’t fit the typical mold of an astronaut.

“I always wanted to go to space, but I never really considered it something which I could actually do,” Benthaus told CNN ahead of the flight.

“Maybe space is for people who have an amputated leg but still can walk a little bit,” Benthaus said she had wondered before securing a seat on a New Shepard capsule. “Maybe having a spinal cord injury is way too disabled.”

Benthaus, a lifelong adventurer, damaged her spinal cord in a 2018 mountain biking incident. She told CNN her enthusiasm for space exploration grew from there, as she focused her passions on engineering and research challenges she could tackle while relying on a wheelchair for mobility.

Her flight aboard New Shepard lasted around 10 minutes, as the rocket fired its engines to propel Benthaus and her five crewmates to more than three times the speed of sound and soar past the Kármán Line.

Making space accessible

New Shepard is designed to offer passengers a few minutes of weightlessness at the top of the flight path, as gravity begins to drag the capsule back to Earth.

Benthaus told CNN in a preflight interview that she planned to use a special strap to keep her legs bound as she exited her seat to enjoy microgravity and peer out the window for a singular view of Earth.

She noted that she’s previously experienced microgravity during a parabolic training flight aboard an aircraft. So she expected to be more interested in soaking up the panoramic views than doing flips in the cabin.

Benthaus also intends to use what she learns to improve the experience for future passengers who may be in a similar situation.

After exiting the Blue Origin capsule on Saturday, she noted that the strap worked “quite well.”

“I did really love the view and the microgravity phase, but I also loved all the going up,” Benthaus said of her experience. “That was so cool to feel every stage of going up.”

Apart from offering a few minutes of weightlessness, New Shepard can also subject passengers to intense G forces — including up to 5Gs during the capsule’s descent.

She had noted that it was not clear going into the flight whether she would be able to return to her seat without assistance. Hans Koenigsmann, a former executive at SpaceX and a friend of Benthaus’, flew alongside her and had been trained to provide assistance if needed.

When asked about his experience, Koenigsmann said, “I didn’t expect it to be that intense, to be honest. It was more intense than I thought.”

“The movements are slower — they’re slower, but they’re more forceful,” he said.

As part of her space journey, Benthaus is raising money for the spinal cord injury research nonprofit Wings for Life.

Jared Isaacman, the billionaire tech entrepreneur who this week was sworn in as the next administrator of NASA, praised the mission.

“Congratulations, Michi! You just inspired millions to look up and imagine what is possible,” he wrote in a social media post.

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