Astro Hawk (Ian Kluft) ✅🚀🛰️Dec 21
"Paraplegic engineer becomes the first wheelchair user to blast into space" by @AssociatedPress - Suborbital passenger spaceflight by #BlueOrigin #NewShepard in Van Hor, Texas carried Michaela Benthaus, the first wheelchair user to fly to #space. The flight reached 105km / 65mi. Anything above 100km is good enough to claim a space flight. The curvature of the Earth is visible above about 15km / 9mi / 50,000ft. https://apnews.com/article/blue-origin-wheelchair-rocket-launch-e1b993bc7a66a1d587d94a0fb37aff8f #NewSpace #rocketry #tourism
Paraplegic engineer from Germany takes historic rocket ride with Blue Origin

A paraplegic engineer has become the first wheelchair user in space, blasting off with Blue Origin. Severely injured in a mountain bike accident seven years ago, Michaela Benthaus rocketed away from West Texas on Saturday with Jeff Bezos' company. The German woman shared the 10-minute flight with five others, including a retired SpaceX executive who helped organize and finance her trip for an undisclosed amount. Benthaus says she wanted to savor floating in space while beholding Earth from on high and pushing the boundaries for the disabled.

AP News
Show threadSpaceflight 🚀Dec 20

Altitude alone isn't a sensible way to define an #astronaut. Flying on a commercial airliner ✈️ does not make you an aviator. Riding in a ferry ⛴️ does not make you a mariner. Stepping into a #rocket 🚀 is an insufficient condition for #astronaut wings.
Orbital #tourism must reach #orbital speeds of approximately 28,000 km per hour. Orbital tourists spend more time in Space 🌌 and travel farther from Earth https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/who-owns-outer-space/space-tourism/DC27962FB213D032D820504C173E9BD8

#BlueOrigin #NewShepard #suborbital #SpaceTourism

Space Tourism (Chapter 1) - Who Owns Outer Space?

Who Owns Outer Space? - April 2023

Cambridge Core
SpaceNewsDec 20

Blue Origin flies first wheelchair user to space

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://spacenews.com/blue-origin-flies-first-wheelchair-user-to-space/

RevesdespaceDec 20
🚀👩🏻‍🚀 Après un report jeudi, le vol suborbital #NS37 de #NewShepard a eu lieu cet après-midi avec 6 passagers à bord. Alttiutde atteinte : 107 km. Durée du vol : ~10 min.
New Shepard a déjà envoyé 92 personnes (dont 6 avec plus d'un vol) juste au-dessus des 100 km d'altitude.
Cosmic LogDec 20

Blue Origin launches first wheelchair user into space
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture added a page to the space history books today by sending the first wheelchair user into space.

“It was the coolest experience,” said Michaela “Michi” Benthaus, a German-born aerospace and mechatronics engineer at the Europe
https://cosmiclog.com/2025/12/20/blue-origin-launches-first-wheelchair-user-into-space/
#GeekWire #Accessibility #BlueOrigin #NewShepard #SpaceTourism #SuborbitalSpaceflight

Blue Origin launches first wheelchair user into space

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture added a page to the space history books today by sending the first wheelchair user into space. “It was the coolest experience,” said Michaela “Michi” Benthaus,…

Cosmic Log
Show threadDaniel FischerDec 20
Michaela (Michi) Benthaus after her suborbital flight - the other German on board, Hans Königsmann, had assisted her egress. #NewShepard
Show threadPlanetarium BochumDec 20
Der Suborbitalflug #NewShepard 37 mit u.a. zwei deutschen Passagieren ist perfekt verlaufen: Drohnen-Perspektiven auf den Start und die Landung des Boosters und der Kapsel - jetzt steigen sie gerade aus.
Show threadDaniel FischerDec 20
And the #NewShepard 37 booster and capsule are back!
Show threadDaniel FischerDec 20
Nice UAV view of the #NewShepard 37 launch against the rising Sun.
Planetarium BochumDec 20
Zweiter Versuch ... In einer Viertelstunde sollen u.a. zwei Deutsche in den Weltraum fliegen - wenn auch nur für Minuten, beim 37. Suborbitalhüpfer eines #NewShepard von Blue Origin in Texas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66VP21OjegA = der Webcast, https://www.blueorigin.com/news/new-shepard-ns-37-mission = die Crew, https://www.heise.de/news/All-Ausflug-zweier-Deutscher-steht-an-11119099.html und https://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/michaela-benthaus-und-blue-origin-querschnittsgelaehmte-deutsche-will-heute-ins-all-fliegen-a-f4a783f6-0c26-4b28-88fe-c9087260de63 und https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/schleswig-holstein/mit-querschnittslaehmung-ins-all-michi-benthaus-will-heute-hoch-hinaus,astronautin-116.html = Artikel v.a. über Michaela Benthaus (zugleich die erste querschnittsgelähmte Astronautin) und Hans Königsmann, früher eine führende Kraft bei SpaceX.