Michaela Benthaus had dreamed of becoming an astronaut since she was a young girl. Then came the accident that changed her life completely.
An upcoming Blue Origin flight will mark a first for people with disabilities.
The company said its next mission will include Michaela “Michi” Benthaus, an aerospace and mechatronics engineer at the European Space Agency who uses a wheelchair.
Benthaus will be one of six passengers on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket, which will travel above the Kármán line, the internationally recognized boundary of space.
The aerospace student experienced zero gravity for the first time – through a US program that aims to make space accessible to everyone.
Michaela Benthaus has always been “mega fascinated” by outer space and space travel. Ever since she first watched Star Wars at the age of 10, and was amazed by “all of those spaceships”, she was determined to become an astronaut.
Benthaus never gave up on her dream – and continues to pursue it today. After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechatronics Engineering, she was accepted into the TUM Masters Program in Aerospace, specializing in space and astrophysics.
Childhood dreams of outer space
To many, her continued belief in her childhood dream might seem very optimistic. After a mountain biking accident in September 2018 it looked like she had no chance of ever taking off for outer space and experiencing weightlessness. Since the crash, Michaela (30) has been a paraplegic.
“That is not how people picture an astronaut,” says the native of Kiel, Germany. At first Benthaus thought that space flight “was never going to happen” for her. But in recent years she has gradually regained hope: “The times we live in and the technical possibilities are changing.” An amputee who lost his leg was recently accepted for a feasibility study by the European Space Agency (ESA).
Parabolic flight in December 2022
Well aware of how few people ever get such an opportunity, she admits that it is not the entire focus of her life. But for Benthaus, giving up entirely on her dream of space travel is still out of the question. “If I ever get the chance, I will certainly take it,” she says.
And Michaela Benthaus got the opportunity, at least to experience weightlessness, in December 2022. She applied to take part in AstroAccess, a US-based initiative that aims to make space travel accessible to people with disabilities. AstroAccess was preparing to conduct its second parabolic flight. In this maneuver, an aircraft rapidly gains altitude before going into an equally steep dive. At the highest point, at the transition from ascent to descent, people on board experience weightlessness for 20 seconds.
This is “like the sensation of a trampoline jump – but one that lasts 20 seconds,” she says. She reports enthusiastically about the feeling of freedom and especially being able to move on her own once again in the weightless state after so long in a wheelchair.
