German woman becomes first wheelchair-user in space
A German engineer has become the first wheelchair user to fly to space.
Michaela Benthaus was joined by five other passengers on board the Blue Origin flight, which departed from Texas on Saturday.
Ms Benthaus was seriously injured following a mountain bike accident seven years ago. She suffered damage to her spinal cord, which has left her unable to walk.
Michaela Benthaus was joined by five other passengers on board the Blue Origin flight, which departed from Texas on Saturday. Pic: Blue Origin
The German native took part in the European Space Agency graduate trainee program which was held in Netherlands, but admitted she never thought a trip to space was in her future.
Speaking to the Associated Press before Saturday’s flight, she said she ‘never really thought that going on a spaceflight would be a real option for me.’
She explained: ‘Even as a super healthy person, it’s so competitive, right? There is no history of people with disabilities flying to space.’
The flight lasted ten minutes in total and saw their vehicle, New Shepard, launch more than 65 miles to the Karman line. Pic: Blue Origin
The flight lasted ten minutes in total and saw their vehicle, New Shepard, launch more than 65 miles to the Karman line — which many consider the edge of space — before turning upside down.
Blue Origin was founded by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, with their first passenger space flight happening in 2021.
Earlier this year, Katy Perry made major headlines when she took part in the all-women Blue Origin flight, which lasted around 10 minutes and 21 seconds, taking off about 120 miles southeast of El Paso.
The singer faced huge backlash following the trip to space, but an insider later told the Daily Mail that while she didn’t regret the ‘life-changing’ experience, she did regret ‘making a public spectacle’ out of it.
While she would do it all over again, the star winces at some of her behaviour after landing, particularly the ground kissing and her ‘close-up camera moments’.
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