By 
November 26th, 2025
Image credit: AstroAccess
The message from AstroAccess: “If we can make space accessible, we can make any space accessible.”
AstroAccess Ambassador Michaela “Michi” Benthaus is on a trajectory to become the first wheelchair user in space. Her space journey will take place aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital rocket, according to a posting.
AstroAccess, a project of SciAccess, Inc., is dedicated “to promoting disability inclusion in human space exploration by paving the way for disabled astronauts.”
First step
Founded in 2021, AstroAccess has conducted five microgravity missions in which disabled scientists, veterans, students, athletes, and artists perform demonstrations onboard parabolic flights with the Zero Gravity Corporation, as the first step in a progression toward flying a diverse range of people to space.
Benthaus is at the TUM School of Engineering and Design in Munich, Germany and as a space engineer is currently a Young Graduate Trainee at the European Space Agency.
Image credit: AstroAccess
Spinal cord injury
In 2018, Benthaus became a wheelchair user after a mountain biking accident resulted in a spinal cord injury.
In 2022, Benthaus was selected to fly with AstroAccess on a parabolic flight, becoming one of the first wheelchair users to test accessibility experiments in weightlessness.
Since then, the journey by Benthaus has included 18 parabolas and first-of-its-kind accessibility experiments, with a focus on demonstrating innovative methods for anchoring, maneuvering, and securing in microgravity.
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Posted in Space News
