Today, AstroAccess celebrates a historic milestone in spaceflight and accessibility as AstroAccess Ambassador Michaela “Michi” Benthaus became the first wheelchair user to travel to space, flying aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard NS-37 mission.
The mission launched on December 20, 2025 at 8:15 CT from Launch Site One in West Texas, successfully reaching space and crossing the Kármán line, the internationally recognized boundary of space. The flight carried six civilian crew members and provided several minutes of weightlessness before safely returning to Earth. The total flight duration was approximately eleven minutes.
NS-37 marked Blue Origin’s 16th human spaceflight mission and represents a milestone moment for inclusive space exploration. Benthaus’s participation challenges long-held assumptions about who can access space and demonstrates the importance of designing missions that consider a wider range of human bodies and experiences.
“We are proud to have had Michi on our AstroAccess flight crew in 2022 and could not be more excited for the doors her Blue Origin flight will open. Today marks a groundbreaking mission for advancing accessibility, on Earth and beyond,” said Anna Voelker, Co-Founder and Executive Director of AstroAccess.
Michi was selected as an AstroAccess Ambassador in 2022 for AA2, the second full charter AstroAccess flight. As part of AA2, Benthaus flew onboard the Zero-Gravity Corporation’s G-Force One for eighteen parabolas. Benthaus contributed to AstroAccess’ research on mobility access, testing ingress and egress into a seat designed to simulate those used on suborbital flights.
AstroAccess continues to advocate for the inclusion of people with disabilities in space research, exploration, and human spaceflight, working to ensure that future missions reflect the diversity of humanity.
Voelker added, “This flight is the beginning, not the end. Michi’s mission embodies AstroAccess’ motto that ‘If we can make space accessible, we can make any space accessible.’”
AstroAccess is dedicated to advancing disability inclusion in space exploration for the benefit of humankind. The project is part of SciAccess, an international nonprofit dedicated to advancing disability inclusion in STEM. Learn more about AstroAccess at astroaccess.org
