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Michaela Benthaus, a paraplegic engineer from Germany, is described as the first person who uses a wheelchair to travel to space. The article quotes her: “there is like no history of people with disabilities flying to space.” It reports a 10-minute suborbital flight on Blue Origin’s New Shepard with five other passengers from West Texas and notes she experienced weightlessness and viewed Earth.
The company said the autonomous New Shepard capsule was designed with “accessibility” in mind and “required only minor adjustments” for this flight. The article specifies the steps: adding a transfer board to move between the hatch and seat; using an elevator at the launch pad to ascend seven stories to the capsule; and placing a carpet on the desert floor at touchdown.
Benthaus said outsiders “aren’t always as inclusive,” and the article states that she was adamant about doing as much as she could by herself and practiced in advance.
Benthaus’s stated goal is “to make not only space accessible … but to improve accessibility on Earth” too. Community Builders: Strive to set a global, world-embracing standard where diverse, vibrant, inclusive, accessible communities are the norm.
Read the Full Article: Woman becomes first wheelchair user to ever visit space on historic Blue Origin flight. By: Marcia Dunn
