Michaela Benthaus, a 33-year-old German aerospace and mechatronics engineer at the European Space Agency, became the first wheelchair user ever to travel past the Kármán Line — a common demarcation for outer space that lies 100 kilometers above sea level.

Her history-making trip aboard a Blue Origin New Shepard capsule took flight Saturday morning, lifting off from the company’s launch facilities near Van Horn, Texas.

The mission, known as NS-37, is the 16th suborbital space tourism launch carried out by Blue Origin, the Jeff Bezos-funded rocket venture founded in 2000 with the aim of expanding access to space — even for enthusiasts who don’t fit the typical mold of an astronaut.

“I always wanted to go to space, but I never really considered it something which I could actually do,” said Benthaus ahead of the flight.

“Maybe space is for people who have an amputated leg but still can walk a little bit,” Benthaus said she had wondered before securing a seat on a New Shepard capsule. “Maybe having a spinal cord injury is way too disabled.”

Benthaus, a lifelong adventurer, damaged her spinal cord in a 2018 mountain biking incident. Her enthusiasm for space exploration grew from there, as she focused her passions on engineering and research challenges she could tackle while relying on a wheelchair for mobility.

Her flight aboard New Shepard lasted around 10 minutes, as the rocket fired its engines to propel Benthaus and her five crewmates to more than three times the speed of sound and soar past the Kármán Line.

New Shepard is designed to offer passengers a few minutes of weightlessness at the top of the flight path, as gravity begins to drag the capsule back to Earth.

Benthaus said in a preflight interview that she planned to use a special strap to keep her legs bound as she exited her seat to enjoy microgravity and peer out the window for a singular view of Earth.

She noted that she’s previously experienced microgravity during a parabolic training flight aboard an aircraft. So she expected to be more interested in soaking up the panoramic views than doing flips in the cabin.

Benthaus also intends to use what she learns to improve the experience for future passengers who may be in a similar situation.

After exiting the Blue Origin capsule Saturday, she noted that the strap worked “quite well.”

“I did really love the view and the microgravity phase, but I also loved all the going up,” Benthaus said of her experience. “That was so cool to feel every stage of going up.”

Apart from offering a few minutes of weightlessness, New Shepard can also subject passengers to intense G forces — including up to 5Gs during the capsule’s descent.

As part of her space journey, Benthaus is raising money for the spinal cord injury research nonprofit Wings for Life.

近日，德国工程师兼轮椅使用者迈克尔娅•本特豪斯突破卡门线（海拔100公里处国际公认的外太空边界），成为全球首位进入太空的截瘫人士。33岁的本特豪斯任职于欧洲航天局，是一名航空航天与机电一体化工程师。上周六上午，她乘坐蓝色起源公司的“新谢泼德号”太空舱，从美国德克萨斯州范霍恩附近的发射场升空，完成了这次具有里程碑意义的飞行。

本次代号NS-37的任务是蓝色起源公司执行的第16次亚轨道太空旅游发射。该公司由杰夫•贝索斯投资创立于2000年，致力于拓展普通人进入太空的机会 —— 包括那些不符合传统宇航员身体条件的爱好者。

飞行前，本特豪斯坦言：“我一直想去太空，但从未真正觉得这件事能够成真。”在确定获得“新谢泼德号”乘坐资格之前，她曾自我怀疑：“也许失去一条腿但仍能行走的人可以去太空，但像我这样脊髓损伤的人，是否就太过‘残疾’了？”

本特豪斯天生热爱冒险，2018年她在一次山地自行车事故中脊髓受损，从此依靠轮椅行动。也正是在那之后，她对太空探索的热情日益加深，并将精力专注于工程与研究领域，积极挑战在轮椅条件下仍可推进的科研项目。

此次“新谢泼德号”飞行持续约10分钟。火箭引擎将本特豪斯及其他五位乘员加速至三倍音速，推动飞船穿越卡门线。该飞行器设计让乘客在轨迹顶端体验数分钟失重，随后在重力作用下返回地球。

飞行前受访时，本特豪斯表示计划使用特制绑带固定双腿，以便在微重力环境下离开座位，透过舷窗欣赏地球全景。她曾在地面抛物线飞行中体验过失重，因此此次更期待专注观赏外太空景观，而非在舱内翻转漂浮。

本特豪斯也希望通过这次飞行积累的经验，帮助改善未来残障人士的太空旅行体验。周六降落后，她表示绑带“效果很好”。“我无比喜爱窗外的景色和失重阶段，但上升过程的每一刻也同样令人震撼，”她分享道，“感受飞行每个阶段的推进，实在太酷了。”

除了提供短暂失重体验，“新谢泼德号”也会在返回舱下降期间使乘客承受高达5个G的重力加速度。借助这次太空之旅，本特豪斯同步为脊髓损伤研究非营利组织“生命之翼”发起筹款。

(Translated by DeepSeek)