Engineer becomes first wheelchair user to go to space
A German engineer has become the world’s first wheelchair user to go into space.
Michaela Benthaus, who suffered a spinal cord injury in a mountain biking accident seven years ago, had contacted a retired space engineer online to find out if her dream of becoming an astronaut was still possible.
He then helped organize the historic 10-minute flight with Blue Origin, the space tourism company founded by Jeff Bezos.
Ms. Benthaus and five others took off from Texas on Saturday and reached a point just above the so-called “edge” of space, known as the Kármán line.
“It was the coolest experience!” she said after landing in a video shared by Blue Origin.
“I not only loved the view and the microgravity, but I also loved going up. It was so cool, every step of the way up.”
New Shepard, Blue Origin’s reusable suborbital launch vehicle, lifted off from the company’s launch pad in Texas at 2:15 p.m. GMT.
Ms Benthaus, who works at the European Space Agency, said she “really, really understood how inaccessible our world still was” for disabled people after her accident.
She made her way from her wheelchair to the capsule, using a bench extending from the hatch.
Hans Koenigsmann, the retired SpaceX executive who helped organize the trip, was tethered nearby to offer assistance during the flight if needed.
“I first met Hans online,” Ms. Benthaus said. “I just asked him, you know, you worked for SpaceX for so long, do you think people like me can be astronauts?”
Koenigsmann said Ms. Benthaus “basically inspired me to do this. “It was her motivation that convinced me that I should do this too, and just experience something that I’ve seen from the outside for a long time,” he said.
Blue Origin said ground support equipment was added to help Ms. Benthaus enter and exit the capsule.
“Michi’s flight is particularly significant, demonstrating that space is for everyone, and we are proud to help make that dream come true,” said Phil Joyce, senior vice president of New Shepard.
The cost of the mission, which is the 16th suborbital space tourism launch by Blue Origin, has not been revealed.
The company has taken dozens of tourists into space. In April, pop star Katy Perry, Bezos’ fiancée Lauren Sánchez and CBS anchor Gayle King were among six women launched into space aboard a Blue Origin rocket for a flight that lasted about 11 minutes.
These high-profile flights come at a time when private space companies are fiercely competing for dominance in space tourism.
