“You should never give up on your dreams”

We had already seen very diverse personalities navigating in space aboard spaceships. Blue origin —the space company of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos—; from journalists like Jesús Calleja, to singers like Katy Perry or activists like Amanda Nguyen (nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019).

Indeed, at 90 years old, the legendary actor of “Star Trek” William Shatner became the oldest person to travel to space in 2021. However, there was still one important milestone missing: sending a person in a wheelchair on a commercial flight.

Michaela “Michi” Benthaus became the first passenger with reduced mobility to travel beyond the Karman Linelocated approximately 100 kilometers above the Earth and internationally recognized as the spatial boundary.

According to Blue Origin on the social network accessibility space travel for all.

Benthaus is a German aerospace and mechatronics engineer from European Space Agency who suffered a spinal cord injury after an ATV accident in 2018, who was part of a six-crew mission called “Out of the Blue” that took place this Saturday.

“I’m excited to show the world that people wheelchair “They can also do suborbital flights, and I’m very happy that Blue Origin supports that,” she said.

In total, the space mission lasted approximately 10 minutes and its participants spent several in microgravity before returning safely to the Earth’s surface.

Blue Origin warned that it was not necessary to modify either the launch tower or the crew capsule to adapt them to the needs of a disabled person because they were already designed with these specificities in mind.

However, a series of aspects were taken into account. Has been incorporated transfer platform for patients, therefore Benthaus could slide from the capsule hatch into his seat.

The recovery team also arranged a mat to spread on the desert sand after landing, allowing him to immediately reach his wheelchair, which he had left on the ground before takeoff.

Furthermore, Hans Koenigsmanna former SpaceX executive and friend of Benthaus, was traveling with her. He had received training to help if necessary.

Bezos’ company has already taken dozens of space tourists beyond the Kármán Line on missions lasting between 10 and 11 minutes.

A bicycle accident

Benthaus, a person with a lifelong adventurous spirit, suffered a spinal cord injury after a ATV accident in 2018.

As explained in cnnAfter this event, his interest in space exploration intensified, as he focused all his efforts on the engineering and research challenges he could overcome using a wheelchair as a means of mobility.

The young woman, 33 years oldis part of the graduate training program of the European Space Agency in Holland and had already experienced brief moments of weightlessness during a parabolic plane flight from Houston in 2022.

Less than two years later, he participated in a two-week simulated space mission to Poland.

“I never really thought this would happen space flight “That would be a real option for me because even though she’s a very healthy person, she’s so competitive, right?” she said The associated press before the flight.

After his accident, these aspirations seemed to have completely disappeared. “There is no history of people with disabilities flying in space,” he said.

When Koenigsmann asked her last year if she would be willing to fly with Blue Origin and experience more than three minutes of weightlessness during a space jump, Benthaus initially thought it was a misunderstanding. But this was not the case, and he accepted it without hesitation.

This is a private mission for Benthaus, without direct support from the space agency, which this year gave the green light to reserve astronaut John McFall, a leg amputee, for a future flight to the International Space Station. The former British Paralympic athlete lost his right leg in a motorcycle accident when he was a teenager.

Benthaus spinal cord injury prevents him from walking completelyunlike McFall, who uses a prosthetic and could leave a space capsule alone in the event of an evacuation after landing.

“A you should never give up on your dreams» insisted Benthaus after landing. She emphasized her determination to do everything she can herself. Its goal is to make space accessible to people with disabilities while improving accessibility here on Earth.

Although he receives many positive reactions within “my space bubble”, he recognizes that outside of this environment, comments they are not always equally inclusive. “I really hope it opens up to people like me, because I hope this is just the beginning,” he said.

As part of his space journey, Benthaus is raise funds for Wings for Life, a nonprofit organization dedicated to spinal cord injury research.