Blue Origin targeting Dec. 18 for historic 1st spaceflight of wheelchair user

A wheelchair user will reach space next week for the first time ever, if all goes according to plan.

Blue Origin announced today (Dec. 11) that it’s targeting Dec. 18 for its NS-37 mission, which will send six people on a brief trip to suborbital space and back.

One of the passengers is Michaela (Michi) Benthaus, an aerospace engineer at the European Space Agency who has used a wheelchair since suffering a spinal cord injury in a 2018 mountain-biking accident. She is poised to break new ground for access and inclusion in human spaceflight.

NS-37 will lift off from Blue Origin’s West Texas site on Dec. 18 during a window that opens at 9:30 a.m. EST (1430 GMT; 8:30 a.m. local time). The company will stream the action live, beginning about 40 minutes before launch.

As its name suggests, NS-37 will be the 37th overall flight of Blue Origin’s autonomous New Shepard vehicle, which consists of a crew capsule and a rocket, both of which are reusable.

New Shepard flights last 10 to 12 minutes from liftoff to capsule touchdown. Passengers feel a few minutes of weightlessness and see Earth against the blackness of space.

The five folks who will get this experience on NS-37 along with Benthaus are investor Joey Hyde, aerospace engineer Hans Koenigsmann, entrepreneur Neal Milch, investor Adonis Pouroulis, and self-proclaimed “space nerd” Jason Stansell.

Other space nerds may recognize Koenigsmann’s name: He was one of the first employees at SpaceX, working there from 2002 to 2021. For roughly half of that time, he served as the company’s vice president of build and flight reliability and was a frequent participant in launch webcasts and press conferences.

Blue Origin, which was founded by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, also released the NS-37 mission patch today, along with an explanation of what some of its symbols mean. Here’s that explanation, verbatim from the company:

• The DNA symbolizes the importance and impact of science to Neal Milch. 
• The hippo represents Michaela (Michi) Benthaus’ favorite animal. Her plush hippo, which comforted her in the hospital after her accident, will join her in space. The tennis ball symbolizes another of Michi’s competitive passions. 
• A baobab tree, iconic to South Africa, represents Adonis Pouroulis’ roots. 
• A spiral galaxy symbolizes Joey Hyde’s astrophysics research. 
• A dog-bone shape, stars in the crew capsule windows represent the number 201, and “K” are in memoriam of Jason Stansell’s brother. 
• The shards represent Blue Origin’s commitment to breaking down the barriers to accessing space, including cost, nationality, and ability.