Michaela Benthaus, a 33-year-old German aerospace and mechatronics engineer at the European Space Agency, just became the first wheelchair user ever to travel past the Kármán Line — a common demarcation for outer space that lies 100 kilometers (62 miles) above sea level.Her history-making trip aboard a Blue Origin New Shepard capsule took flight on Saturday morning, lifting off from the company’s launch facilities near Van Horn, Texas.The mission, known as NS-37, is the 16th suborbital space tourism launch carried out by Blue Origin, the Jeff Bezos-funded rocket venture founded in 2000 with the aim of expanding access to space — even for enthusiasts who don’t fit the typical mold of an astronaut.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I always wanted to go to space, but I never really considered it something which I could actually do,” Benthaus told CNN ahead of the flight.“Maybe space is for people who have an amputated leg but still can walk a little bit,” Benthaus said she had wondered before securing a seat on a New Shepard capsule. “Maybe having a spinal cord injury is way too disabled.”Benthaus, a lifelong adventurer, damaged her spinal cord in a 2018 mountain biking incident. She told CNN her enthusiasm for space exploration grew from there, as she focused her passions on engineering and research challenges she could tackle while relying on a wheelchair for mobility.Her flight aboard New Shepard lasted around 10 minutes, as the rocket fired its engines to propel Benthaus and her five crewmates to more than three times the speed of sound and soar past the Kármán Line.Michi Benthaus poses after her historic flight into space. – From Blue OriginMaking space accessibleNew Shepard is designed to offer passengers a few minutes of weightlessness at the top of the flight path, as gravity begins to drag the capsule back to Earth.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBenthaus told CNN in a preflight interview that she planned to use a special strap to keep her legs bound as she exited her seat to enjoy microgravity and peer out the window for a singular view of Earth.She noted that she’s previously experienced microgravity during a parabolic training flight ab …
