A German female engineer made history by becoming the first wheelchair user to travel into space, as Michaela Benthaus completed a historic 10-minute suborbital flight on Saturday, proving that physical disabilities do not bar humans from the stars.
Seven years ago, Benthaus suffered a spinal cord injury during a mountain bike accident that fundamentally changed her physical mobility. However, the European Space Agency employee refused to abandon her lifelong dream of visiting the cosmos despite her new reality.
Consequently, the 33-year-old reached out to Hans Koenigsmann, a retired SpaceX manager, through an online platform to discuss her ambitious goals. She asked him directly if someone in her position could realistically serve as an astronaut in the modern space era.
“I just asked him, like, you know, you worked for so long for SpaceX, do you think that people like me can be astronauts?” she recalled.
The Historic Ascent from Texas Desert
Koenigsmann found inspiration in her tenacity and helped organize the mission with Blue Origin, the aerospace company founded by Jeff Bezos. The New Shepard vehicle departed the Texas launch pad with Benthaus and five other crew members aboard.
To facilitate her entry, the company installed specialized ground support equipment, including a bench that extended from the capsule hatch. Benthaus successfully navigated her own way from her wheelchair into the spacecraft, demonstrating remarkable independence during the pre-flight boarding process.
“It was the coolest experience!” she exclaimed in a video Blue Origin shared shortly after the capsule returned to Earth. “I didn’t only like the view and the micro-gravity, but I also liked going up. That was so cool, every stage of going up.”
Breaking Barriers in a Competitive Industry
This mission marks the 16th suborbital tourism launch for Blue Origin, which continues to compete fiercely for dominance in space. While the company has not revealed the specific cost of this mission, its leadership emphasized the social importance of the flight.
Phil Joyce, senior vice-president of New Shepard, stated that Michi’s flight demonstrates that space truly belongs to every human being. Furthermore, Koenigsmann noted that Benthaus inspired him to see the industry from a fresh perspective after years of technical work.
“It’s her drive that kind of convinced me I should do that, too,” Koenigsmann said regarding his participation in the trip.
Benthaus previously noted that her accident highlighted how inaccessible the modern world remains for people who live with physical disabilities. By crossing the Kármán line, she has now effectively expanded the boundaries of inclusion to the very edge of our atmosphere.
