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AstroAccess

@missionastroaccess

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If we can make space accessible, we can make any space accessible. #GalacticAccessibility

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Happy AstroAccess Anniversary! 5 years ago today, we launched the 1st zero-g mission for space accessibility. 🚀

Since then: 8 zero-g flights, 5 analog missions, an Ambassador in space, & invites from @nasa, the White House, @mit, the @unitednations, and more.

Here’s to the next 5 years ahead! #SpaceAccessibility

Flight 1: 12 disabled Ambassadors fly the first zero-g mission researching disability in space.

Flight 2 goes global, with Ambassadors from five countries flying on the 50th anniversary of Apollo 17. The team tests a dozen experiments, including tactile navigation tools.

Analog astronaut missions, the Falling Walls Engage Award in Berlin, and meeting with the NASA Johnson Space Center leadership and astronaut training teams. Pictured here: NASA JSC Director Vanessa Wyche and Associate Center Director Donna Shafer meet with AstroAccess to discuss spaceflight accessibility.

New communication tech takes flight on Aurelia Horizon 2024, and insulin pumps are researched in zero-g in collaboration with MIT.

Flight 2 Ambassador Michi Benthaus becomes the first wheelchair user in space, flying aboard Blue Origin’s NS-37 mission.

Sheila Xu delivers the first ASL statement at the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, and we complete our eighth zero-g mission, flying out of Switzerland for the first time. Twelve Flight 1 Ambassadors in black flight suits smile on a sunny airport tarmac in front of a white jet with a blue tail and an open cargo door. Five Ambassadors in wheelchairs sit in the front row, with the rest standing behind them. Labeled 2021. by @missionastroaccess

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2 days ago

Happy National Disability Employment Awareness Month! Thank you to the Boston Human Spaceflight Symposium for inviting AstroAccess to speak on accessibility in space.

The panel was a fantastic discussion, moderated by @mit Professor and former @nasa astronaut Dr. Jeff Hoffman. We were thrilled to be joined by a large AstroAccess team, including several of our new volunteers, who make this work possible.

If we can make space accessible, we can make any space accessible.

Thank you to the symposium organizers and to @osmedspace for this opportunity! #NDEAM

[ID: The top photo shows eight AstroAccess members standing close together and smiling in front of a blue backdrop. The backdrop reads "Human Spaceflight Symposium" and has several sponsor and organization logos. The group is dressed in business casual and professional attire. The bottom photo shows a panel discussion in a conference room. Five people sit in a row of armchairs at the front. Behind them, two screens display a slide titled "Accessibility in Spaceflight," with the 2025 Boston Human Spaceflight Symposium name and small headshots of the panelists. A mobility device is parked beside one of the seated panelists. At the bottom, a navy banner has a gold "RECAP" tag above white text reading "Boston Human Spaceflight Symposium."] Recap graphic for the Boston Human Spaceflight Symposium. Top: eight attendees pose in front of the event backdrop. Bottom: five panelists sit on stage in front of a slide titled "Accessibility in Spaceflight." taken in Boston, Massachusetts by @missionastroaccess

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18 days ago

Today, AstroAccess successfully completed our eighth zero-gravity mission!

Our team travelled to Dubendorf, Switzerland 🇨🇭 to conduct research in partnership with the Ohio State University, the Starlab space station, the Center for Space and Aviation Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and the University of Zurich.

@mit PhD Candidate and AstroAccess Director of Flight Operations @kylejhorn flew seventeen parabolas demonstrating the feasibility of his new technology for insulin fluid-bubble elimination. This work closes an operational gap in space medicine for astronauts with diabetes. Thank you to @theohiostateuniversity, @starlab_space, CSA, and @UZH for making this mission possible!

#SpaceAccessibility #SpaceResearch #Starlab #OhioState AstroAccess Ambassador Kyle Horn, a white man with glasses, smiles while sitting in a plain seat wearing a flight suit covered in AstroAccess flight patches. Kyle is wearing a headset and giving a thumbs up while holding his experiment. taken in Dübendorf, Switzerland by @missionastroaccess

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a month ago

What happens when embodiment becomes frictionless?

In this latest essay with @huwd.platform, I explore what remains truly human when the weight of the body is removed through experiences of weightlessness or virtuality.

I map out how Earth, space, and synthetic realities are becoming the environments in which human presence, identity, and ability are continually redefined revealing new forms of embodiment.

Video captured during a Zero Gravity flight in collaboration with @aurelia_institute @missionastroaccess and @gozerog

Comment “Embodiment” and we’ll DM you the full essay. by @missionastroaccess

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2 months ago

Happy National Disability Independence Day! 36 years ago, the ADA became law, thanks in part to AstroAccess Ambassador John Kemp, who helped fight for its passage. In this clip from the ADA's 20th anniversary, he reflects on that fight — link in bio.

That fight doesn't take a day off, and it doesn't stop at home.

In June, we delivered the first-ever statement in American Sign Language at COPUOS, the UN's Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, including Ambassador Sheila Xu @sheilazxu sharing how designing for Deaf crew members made a parabolic flight more accessible for all. Thank you to @unoosa for the incredible honor of representing space accessibility on the global stage.

And yesterday, our own Executive Director Anna spoke at Boston Museum of Science @mosevents for their Disability Pride Day, bringing the conversation home.

Partnering across the aerospace industry, we're opening the door to space for the next generation of disabled explorers, today, and every day.

#DisabilityPride #ADA36 #DisabilityIndependenceDay #SpaceForAll

[ID 1: Anna Voelker (right) and Carolin Karbowski from See3D @see.3d (left) smile beside an AstroAccess exhibit display at Boston Museum of Science featuring tactile mission patches, next to a mannequin wearing AstroAccess Ambassador Dr. Mona Minkara’s zero-g flight suit.]
[ID 2: Seven AstroAccess team members smile in front of a tall display of international flags representing UN member states.] Anna Voelker (right) and Carolin Karbowski from See3D (left) smile beside an AstroAccess exhibit display at Boston Museum of Science featuring tactile mission patches, next to a mannequin wearing AstroAccess Ambassador Dr. Mona Minkara’s zero-g adaptive flight suit. by @missionastroaccess

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3 months ago

🚀 ICYMI: a landmark moment at #COPUOS2026!

@missionastroaccess delivered the first-ever statement in American Sign Language at COPUOS this June.

👩‍🚀AstroAccess Ambassador @sheilazxu highlighted how designing for accessibility can benefit everyone: a color-changing light signal system developed for Deaf crew members on a parabolic flight also improved safety for the whole crew when ambient noise made verbal communication unreliable.

The US-based non-profit is advancing disability inclusion in space exploration through collaborations with @nasa Johnson Space Center, @blueorigin and the @challengerctr, helping open pathways for the next generation of space explorers with disabilities.

UNOOSA celebrates this important milestone and the continued efforts to ensure that the future of space is accessible, inclusive and shaped for all.

#Space4All #SpaceAccessibility #HumanSpaceflight by @missionastroaccess

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4 months ago

Two weeks ago I was in that room. The United Nations. Vienna. 🇦🇹

I delivered remarks at the 69th Session of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) in American Sign Language, which was a first in the history of UN COPUOS. ASL belongs in that room just like any other language spoken there.

I was also the only Deaf person in the whole room, which is something I've gotten used to but never stopped noticing.

I had about a minute to speak. I decided to share something personal. I talked about how I grew up dreaming of becoming an astronaut, just like any other kid. But the training standards, the physical requirements, the habitat designs, none of it was ever written with the assumption that someone like me would be there. So instead of accepting that, I got to work and took action.

Afterwards, people came up to say our statement was one of the most impactful they had heard at UN COPUOS in a long time. That meant a lot.

I hope to be back next year. There's still so much more to say. 🚀

#COPUOS #unitednations #spaceforall #DeafInSTEM #ASL #Inclusion #deafgain #womeninspace Sheila Xu, wearing a teal blazer with an AstroAccess pin, signing in American Sign Language at the AstroAccess delegation table at the UN COPUOS plenary session in Vienna. A nameplate reading "AstroAccess" sits on the blue table in front of her. Seated next to her is a man in a navy AstroAccess polo shirt. Wood-paneled walls are visible in the background. taken in United Nations Vienna by @missionastroaccess

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4 months ago

AstroAccess has arrived at the United Nations!

We are proud to have been invited to represent space accessibility on the global stage. The AstroAccess delegation—Anna Voelker (AstroAccess Executive Director), Caitlin O'Brien O’Brien (AstroAccess Deputy Director), Sheila Xu (AstroAccess Ambassador), and our ASL interpreting team—has arrived in Vienna to take part in the 69th Session of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (#COPUOS). AstroAccess will give remarks on Tuesday, June 16, beginning at approximately 10:00 AM Vienna time (UTC +2). #UnitedNations

[ID: Five AstroAccess delegates smile for a photo inside a UN conference room, surrounded by rows of blue chairs and microphone-equipped tables. An inset photo shows three of them in conversation at a blue-draped conference table.] taken in Vienna, Austria by @missionastroaccess

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4 months ago

🚀Back from #space! Blue Origin's Jake Mills (#Crewmember7) chats with some of the returning #NS37 crew after today's flawless #spaceflight!
"Never give up on your dreams!" - @michi_benthaus by @missionastroaccess

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10 months ago

T-30 MINUTES TO LAUNCH! NS-37 launch window opens at 9:15am ET / 8:15 CT! Go to BlueOrigin.com/Live to view the live webcast starting 20 minutes prior to liftoff. 🚀

"Fly, Michi, Fly!”

[VD: The Blue Origin disability resource group “New Hawking” wear purple t-shirts with “FLY MICHI FLY” on them. Four people with AstroAccess polos are in the middle. The group cheers “Fly, Michi, Fly!”] by @missionastroaccess

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10 months ago

IT’S LAUNCH TIME! 🚀 AstroAccess is at Launch Site One ready to see AstroAccess Ambassador Michi Benthaus fly to space onboard NS-37 with Blue Origin! Tune in to the livestream at BlueOrigin.com for launch in T-10 MINUTES! 💙

Photo credit: Caitlin O’Brien photo of Michi, wearing her flight suit, sitting and waving in a blue origin truck as she is being driven to the launch pad by @missionastroaccess

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10 months ago

We are beyond excited for this moment. 🚀✨

AstroAccess Ambassador @michi_benthaus is making history as the first wheelchair user to go to space. Tomorrow, December 18 at 11:00am ET, she’ll fly aboard @blueorigin's New Shepard NS-37, cross the Kármán line, and show the world what accessible spaceflight looks like.

WATCH LIVE TOMORROW on BlueOrigin.com/Live, YouTube, or X! Coverage begins about 40 minutes before launch. Please tune in and cheer her on. 💫 #BlueOrigin #NS37 #SpaceAccessibility

[ID: Michaela “Michi” Benthaus sits smiling in her wheelchair in front of a Blue Origin New Shepard capsule inside a training facility.] A smiling woman seated in a wheelchair inside a large aerospace training facility, positioned in front of a Blue Origin New Shepard crew capsule. She is wearing a black T-shirt, black leggings, and white sneakers, with the capsule’s windows and curved exterior visible behind her. by @missionastroaccess

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10 months ago