John McFall has been approved as the first person with a physical disability to take part in a mission to the International Space Station
It’s one small step for man, one giant leap for inclusivity: British Paralympian and orthopaedic surgeon John McFall has been cleared for takeoff as the world’s first disabled astronaut.
McFall took up running after losing his right leg in a motorbike accident at 19 years old. He went on to win multiple medals for Great Britain in sprint events, but his latest endeavour looks set to rocket him from the running track to the International Space Station (ISS).
Back in 2022, McFall was one of 16 men and women chosen from more than 22,500 applicants for the European Space Agency’s (ESA) first class of astronauts in 13 years.
He spent the following two years working with the ESA’s groundbreaking Fly! feasibility study, which set out to explore whether it was technically possible to put a para-astronaut into orbit.
The study concluded late last year with a resounding ‘yes’ and the news that McFall has been greenlit to undertake a six-month mission to the ISS. “I feel hugely proud,” said McFall. “But this isn’t about me – this is way bigger than that. This is a cultural shift.
“One of the roles of an astronaut is to do important science in microgravity while working in space and it’s really my hope that if I get the chance to fly we realise what we do in space – the things we learn, the problems we solve, the technology that we develop – has a trickle-down effect and benefits people here on earth in wider society.”
The Fly! project will now move to a mission ready phase, which will look at what potential scientific experiments McFall could conduct on the ISS, as well as certifying his prosthetic leg for space flight.
“We are looking forward to supporting John during the next phase,” said Liz Johns, interim head of space exploration at the UK Space Agency. “This is groundbreaking work that no other space agency has done before.”
All images: European Space Agency
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