Space agency selects first ‘parastronaut’ to promote diversity!

PARIS — The European Space Agency (ESA) has made history by choosing an amputee who lost his leg in a motorbike accident to be among its newest crop of astronauts – a step toward its trailblazing aim to send someone with a physical impairment into space.

John McFall, a 41-year-old British man who lost his right leg when he was 19 and later participated in the Paralympics, described his selection for Europe’s equivalent of NASA ‘a genuine turning moment and mark in history.’ ‘ ESA has pledged to send an astronaut with a physical impairment to space… This is the first time a space agency has attempted to take on a mission like this. And it conveys a really, really powerful message to humanity,’ he said.

The agency’s first recruiting campaign in more than a decade, aimed at increasing diversity in space flight, came to an end with the announcement of the five career astronauts and the newly-minted parastronaut. Sophie Adenot of France and Rosemary Coogan of the UK, two new ambassadors for a different underrepresented group of European astronauts, were also on the list.

65 out of the more than 560 space explorers have been women worldwide, with most of them Americans. However, there were no people of colour on Wednesday’s list. Despite not addressing ethnic diversity specifically, the hiring campaign at the time emphasised the value of ‘representing all parts of our society’. McFall will take a different route than his fellow astronauts because he will take part in an innovative feasibility study looking at whether physical limitations will hinder space travel. Since no significant Western space agency has ever launched a parastronaut into space, it is uncharted territory, according to ESA.

The feasibility study, which will take two to three years, will look at the fundamental challenges facing a parastronaut, such as how a physical impairment would affect mission training and whether or not spacesuit and aircraft changes are necessary. The 22 European members of the ESA also declared their dedication to ‘space goals’ with a budget increase of 17%, or just less than €17 billion over the following three years. It will support initiatives ranging from studying Mars to combating climate change.