First Person with Disability Reaches Space

DID Press: For the first time in history, a person with a physical disability has traveled to space.

Mikaela Benthaus, a German aerospace and mechatronics engineer at the European Space Agency, became the first wheelchair user to reach space during a 10-minute flight with Blue Origin. She crossed the Kármán line, the internationally recognized boundary of space.

Benthaus sustained a spinal injury in a serious mountain biking accident and has used a wheelchair ever since. Despite her physical challenges, she has continued her professional work in aerospace and achieved her lifelong dream of space travel.