Making Space for Everyone

To build our global village in space, we must make space for everyone.

Last week, the second cohort of Disabled Ambassadors from AstroAccess flew aboard a parabolic flight with Zero Gravity Corporation.?

"This is a vital next step for advancing not only access to space but the quality of space science itself by ensuring that 15% of the world’s population is not excluded," AstroAccess co-founder and Executive Director?@Anna Voelker?said in a press release.?

For decades, spaceflight has only been open to the fittest individuals — mainly white men we were told had “The Right Stuff.” We need to challenge our definition of “superhuman” though and broaden that to include people with different abilities.

“To democratize space, we’re expanding the notion of ‘the right stuff’ and doing the necessary research for inclusion to enable a wide range of people to fly,” Flight Ops Research Lead Corey McClelland said.?

I couldn’t agree more.

What we learn in space improves life on Earth. And that should include all of us, including the 1.2 billion persons with disabilities who represent 15% of the global population. This is a fascinating topic that deserves more ink than this; you can continue your learning with me by following #WeThe15 https://www.wethe15.org/.?

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