ESA Names World's First Disabled Astronaut (reuters.com) 46
The European Space Agency on Wednesday named the first ever "parastronaut" in a major step towards allowing people with physical disabilities to work and live in space. Reuters reports: The 22-nation agency said it had selected former British Paralympic sprinter John McFall as part of a new generation of 17 recruits picked for astronaut training. He will take part in a feasibility study designed to allow ESA to assess the conditions needed for people with disabilities to take part in future missions. He will join five new career astronauts and 11 reserves in training after ESA replenished its astronaut ranks for the first time since 2009.
Following a motorcycle accident that led to his right leg being amputated at the age of 19, McFall went on to win the 100-metres Bronze Medal at the Beijing Paralympic Games in 2008. The 31-year-old doctor will help ESA engineers design changes in hardware needed to open professional spaceflight to a wider group of qualified candidates, the agency said. "It's been quite a whirlwind experience, given that as an amputee, I'd never thought that being an astronaut was a possibility, so excitement was a huge emotion," McFall said in an interview posted on ESA's website.
"I think the message that I would give to future generations is that science is for everyone and space travel hopefully can be for everyone," McFall said.
Following a motorcycle accident that led to his right leg being amputated at the age of 19, McFall went on to win the 100-metres Bronze Medal at the Beijing Paralympic Games in 2008. The 31-year-old doctor will help ESA engineers design changes in hardware needed to open professional spaceflight to a wider group of qualified candidates, the agency said. "It's been quite a whirlwind experience, given that as an amputee, I'd never thought that being an astronaut was a possibility, so excitement was a huge emotion," McFall said in an interview posted on ESA's website.
"I think the message that I would give to future generations is that science is for everyone and space travel hopefully can be for everyone," McFall said.
Interesting (Score:3)
This type of disability might actually be an advantage in space.
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"Islands in the Sky" by Arthur C. Clark. First thing I thought of as well. Available for free on quite a few archive sites for anyone interested. Great story.
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Also "The Ship Who Sang" should be on this short list.
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In Frederick Pohl's Heechee series, there's an asteroid base with very low gravity, and one of the permanent residents had no legs and stays there because he can waft himself and with a pair of hands fans.
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However most astronauts probably also already have a degree of a mental disability.
Oh you want to put me in a small pressurized capsule, on top of a missile the size of a skyscraper, filled with enough explosive material to take out a city, to go into the most inhospitable place, where there is no chance of survival outside that pressurize capsule, unless you put on this special suit, which may give you a few hours or survival.
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We're also put on a giant ball, with a comparatively razor-thin sheet of air surrounding it, in close proximity to a humongous ball of uncontrolled hydrogen-helium fusion reaction. You should be very afraid :)
Re:Waiting for the first spacedownie (Score:5, Insightful)
Needn't be virtue signaling. Let's be honest here, legs are kinda superfluous in space. Moving about is a matter of your hands, not your legs. Legs add to your mass and used volume without adding to your mobility or utility in space. Astronauts without are more compact and more lightweight, both very desirable qualities for space personnel.
It will probably require a few adaptations, for example the facilities to reduce muscle atrophy are mostly geared towards running (which could technically still be done, consideirng he was a paralympics sprinter, but is the exercise as useful? Think we gotta find out whether it is), but I guess that's what this study is for.
I could well see that astronauts in the future are pretty much required to have a few parts missing to reduce unnecessary mass.
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Re:Waiting for the first spacedownie (Score:5, Funny)
So what you're really saying is that we should cut off his legs before we send him out into space.
Of course. By requiring all astronauts to amputate their legs, we not only reduce mass, thus saving fuel, but also weed out candidates who aren't fully committed to the program.
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No, but choosing astronauts based on physical characteristics isn't new. Gagarin was mostly selected to be the first cosmonaut because he was small and scrawny.
Not kidding here. He was 5'2.
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Let's be honest here, legs are kinda superfluous in space.
True. But not if there's a problem at splashdown and the astronauts have to bail out of the capsule and tread water for a while.
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The ideal astronaut is a pygmy woman amputee. Perhaps King Leopold II was a forward-thinking visionary after all.
Re:Waiting for the first spacedownie (Score:5, Insightful)
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I want to be... (Score:5, Funny)
The first overweight, out of shape, old as dirt astronaut. But maybe Shatner beat me to it.
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Options for out-of-shape people to reduce g force is a balloon launch. It costs 125 k$ to be a balloon space tourist apparently, first flight scheduled for 2023 https://science.slashdot.org/s... [slashdot.org]
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Nobody defines 30 miles as space.
blade runner (Score:2)
Is he going to the moon? (Score:2)
That's one small hop for mankind ...
I love English (Score:1)
Re: I love English (Score:3)
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If they named an Editor and the Editor hasn't yet edited anything correctly, is the person really an Editor?
why? (Score:1)
The 31-year-old doctor will help ESA engineers design changes in hardware needed to open professional spaceflight to a wider group of qualified candidates, the agency said.
We are only in the beginning of spaceflight, why already invest unnecessary in getting disabled people into space when there are way WAY more candidates suitable for the coming decades to do the actual work.
Spaceflight already costs so much, so why add the extra costs at this time, when we still have a lot of work to do in normal working environments down here on the planet for disabled people.
So I think it's a big waste of time and money to try to better the working environments in space for disabled peo
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Budgets are so tight they can't even afford to buy eyeglasses which is why all astronauts must have perfect vision.
Isn't Hayley Arceneaux considered disabled? (Score:4, Interesting)
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People with artificial body parts aren't considered disabled unless the replacements don't function well enough for everyday life without accommodations. Good luck applying for disability because you had a hip replacement 20 years ago that doesn't affect your ability to work.
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Saves money (Score:2)
Well, it would save about $400,000 to put him in orbit. #sarcasm
More initiatives for people with disabilities (Score:2)
There should be more initiatives for people with disabilities in general.
A different story from the past:
People with autism bring strengths that we need at Microsoft, each individual is different, some have amazing ability to retain information, think at a level of detail and depth or excel in math or code. Itâ(TM)s a talent pool that we want to continue to bring to Microsoft!
Microsoft announces pilot program to hire people with autism (2015)
https://blogs.microsoft.com/on... [microsoft.com]
An estimated 80 percent of people with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are unemployed, though many are fully capable of holding down a job, and some possess exceptional skills in areas such as science, mathematics or technology.
The 80 percent unemployment rate becomes even more significant considering an estimated one percent of the worldâ(TM)s population has an Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Unique Microsoft hiring program opens more doors to people with autism (2016)
https://news.microsoft.com/sto... [microsoft.com]
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Plus... (Score:1)
i have one question can he do the job (Score:1)
if he can do the job and he has best skills need for the job. does it mater he has a disability?
if he gets it because he is disabled but can not do the job then i have an issue.