Paraplegic engineer becomes the first wheelchair user to blast into space

"Severely injured in a mountain bike accident seven years ago, Michaela Benthaus became the first wheelchair user in space, launching from West Texas with Jeff Bezos' company Blue Origin. She was accompanied by a retired SpaceX executive also born in Germany, Hans Koenigsmann, who helped organize and, along with Blue Origin, sponsored her trip. Their ticket prices were not divulged."

"The 10-minute space-skimming flight required only minor adjustments to accommodate Benthaus, according to the company. That's because the autonomous New Shepard capsule was designed with accessibility in mind, "making it more accessible to a wider range of people than traditional spaceflight," said Blue Origin's Jake Mills, an engineer who trained the crew and assisted them on launch day. Among Blue Origin's previous space tourists: those with limited mobility and impaired sight or hearing, and a pair of 90-year-olds."

Michaela Benthaus, a paraplegic engineer from Germany, launched on a Blue Origin New Shepard rocket from West Texas with five other passengers, leaving her wheelchair behind and experiencing weightlessness. Severely injured in a mountain bike accident seven years earlier, she became the first wheelchair user in space after the capsule soared more than 65 miles (105 kilometers). The 10-minute flight required only minor adjustments to accommodate Benthaus, including a patient transfer board to move between the hatch and her seat and an elevator at the launch pad. Blue Origin designed the autonomous capsule with accessibility in mind and has previously carried passengers with mobility or sensory impairments.

Read at ABC7 Los Angeles