{"id":125138,"date":"2025-10-16T05:16:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T05:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/125138\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T05:16:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T05:16:07","slug":"who-gets-to-go-to-space-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/125138\/","title":{"rendered":"Who gets to go to space? \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

What if one person\u2019s journey could challenge how we define capability, not just in space but here on Earth? <\/p>\n

The European Space Agency<\/a>\u2019s groundbreaking para-astronaut initiative set out to find out, and John McFall was chosen to test just that.<\/p>\n

Somewhere high above Earth, McFall ran in zero gravity. Strapped into a harness on a treadmill bolted to the floor of a parabolic flight, an aircraft that simulates weightlessness in short bursts, McFall sprinted for 22 seconds at a time; 30 times per flight. Three days of running. One prosthetic leg. In free fall.<\/p>\n

He wasn\u2019t running for sport. He was running to prove someone like him, a lower-limb amputee, could meet the same physical demands as any other astronaut.<\/p>\n

The ESA\u2019s initiative set out to challenge assumptions about disability and space. McFall\u2019s journey illustrates what can happen when those assumptions are tested and overcome.<\/p>\n

A practising orthopaedic surgeon and former British paralympian<\/a>, McFall hadn\u2019t always dreamed of becoming an astronaut. But in 2022 he was selected by the ESA to take part in a bold experiment: to determine whether someone with a lower-limb amputation could meet the physical, technical and psychological demands of human space flight. It was the first initiative of its kind and McFall was the first to take it on.<\/p>\n

In 2021, the ESA wanted to explore a long-overdue question: why have people with physical disabilities been excluded from human space flight? Their para-astronaut feasibility project aimed to determine whether candidates with lower-limb differences could safely live and work aboard the International Space Station (ISS). McFall was selected to test that idea and, ultimately, to help rewrite the playbook.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not changing the requirements,\u201d McFall explains. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing if it\u2019s still feasible for someone with a disability like mine to meet those requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n

McFall was one of 257 people who responded to ESA\u2019s call for candidates with specific physical disabilities, including lower-limb amputations, congenital limb differences or individuals shorter than 130cm. Only 27 progressed to the second stage.<\/p>\n

Long before he became a paralympian or a doctor, McFall was already driven. \u201cIf you don\u2019t prepare, you fail. You can\u2019t just be a passenger in life,\u201d he says. \u201cPut in the effort, that\u2019s how you move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Growing up in Hampshire, England, McFall was a talented athlete with a flair for track and field. Sport was a huge part of his identity and he was competing at a national level in sprinting and hurdles as a teenager. He was also academically gifted, with plans to pursue higher education at the university level.<\/p>\n

But at 19 a motorbike accident changed everything. He lost the lower half of his right leg. \u201cIt was difficult at times to pick myself up and change direction,\u201d McFall recalls. \u201cIn the early days I didn\u2019t know what I was capable of. I didn\u2019t know what life as an amputee was going to be like. There was so much uncertainty.\u201d<\/p>\n

What he did know was that he couldn\u2019t sit still. \u201cFor me it was a question of refocusing: what is it that I enjoy in life? Being busy. Physical exercise. Challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

He flew parabolic flights, aircraft that simulate short bursts of weightlessness by flying in a steep arc, while performing CPR on a training mannequin. He travelled to SpaceX headquarters in California to test extravehicular activity procedures \u2013 the technical term for space walks, essentially \u2013 practising emergency drills with and without his prosthesis<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

McFall got back on a mountain bike. He taught himself to run again. He tried surfing, hiking and even snowboarding. Slowly, a new vision of himself began to form. \u201cI realised my disability didn\u2019t matter that much. I was still getting what I wanted out of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

He went on to win bronze in the 100m sprint at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics. After retiring from athletics, he trained as a doctor, specialising in orthopaedics, a discipline where his own use of prosthetics gave him a unique insight.<\/p>\n

The ESA Fly! feasibility study began in late 2022 and lasted two years. Its purpose was to assess whether someone such as McFall could carry out all the functions required for a six-month ISS mission. More than specific considerations were tested across five domains: astronaut training, spacecraft operations, ISS operations, medical scenarios and crew support.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan I perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation [CPR] in microgravity? Use the treadmill? Escape the capsule in an emergency?\u201d McFall adds. \u201cWe didn\u2019t know, so we tested everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

He flew parabolic flights, aircraft that simulate short bursts of weightlessness by flying in a steep arc, while performing CPR on a training mannequin. He travelled to SpaceX<\/a> headquarters in California to test extravehicular activity procedures \u2013 the technical term for spacewalks, essentially \u2013 practising emergency drills with and without his prosthesis. Could he get in and out of the capsule in the required time? Did the suit fit? Would the prosthesis interfere with system interfaces?<\/p>\n

\u201cCan I use the strength training machine? The exercise bike?\u201d McFall says. \u201cCan I stabilise and move around inside the ISS? We looked at everything very systematically.\u201d<\/p>\n

The treadmill tests were part of a wider suite of parabolic flight experiments, simulating microgravity in short bursts. \u201cFor three days I ran for 22 seconds, 30 times per flight with different set-ups of the treadmill and my prosthesis,\u201d McFall adds. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t just to show I could run, it was to optimise the hardware I\u2019d need in space.\u201d<\/p>\n

By end of 2024, the results were clear. The ESA found no medical or technical barriers to McFall\u2019s completion of a long-duration ISS mission. His performance was submitted to the Multilateral Space Medicine Board, a panel of flight surgeons and medical experts from international space agencies, responsible for certifying astronaut health and readiness. The board granted McFall the highest level of medical clearance. This was a world first for someone with a lower-limb amputation.<\/p>\n

One term continued to trouble him: \u201cpara-astronaut\u201d. The ESA had introduced the label as a practical way to define a role that hadn\u2019t existed before. But now that he has met every benchmark required of a standard astronaut, McFall questions whether the qualifier should still apply.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy am I a para-astronaut? I\u2019m not a para-surgeon. I\u2019m just a surgeon,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s catchy, maybe. But I\u2019m not sure it\u2019s necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n

He recognises the importance of initiating conversations. \u201cYou\u2019ve just got to nudge people\u2019s perceptions a little. Get on their radar and say: \u2018I\u2019m a normal guy too\u2019.\u201d However, he also sees the danger of labels becoming invisible fences, boundaries that may persist even after the barriers are removed.<\/p>\n

McFall hopes for a future where astronaut candidates are evaluated on their capability, not assumptions.<\/p>\n

He is now in the ESA\u2019s \u201cFly! Mission ready\u201d phase, having met every benchmark in the feasibility study. He officially sits among ESA\u2019s newest astronaut class, awaiting a potential assignment, something which is already shifting conversations within the ESA and beyond.<\/p>\n

Ask McFall why space matters and he doesn\u2019t talk about rockets or milestones. He talks about wonder. \u201cWe know so little about the universe. For me, I\u2019d be hugely proud to be just a tiny part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

McFall\u2019s story is not just about exploration. It\u2019s also about equity.<\/p>\n

By proving a lower-limb amputee can meet the same standards as any other astronaut, McFall has helped expand the horizon of who can imagine themselves in space, and who might one day get to go.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never let my disability define me,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve always tried to focus on what I can do and what\u2019s possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Space flight offers a rare opportunity to see Earth from above, known as the \u201coverview effect\u201d. Astronauts often describe it as a shift in perception: a sudden awareness that Earth is a tiny, fragile, living ball suspended in the vastness of space, shielded only by a paper-thin atmosphere. From orbit there are no borders, no divisions, only the imperative to protect our shared home.<\/p>\n

For McFall that perceptual shift runs deeper still. His work challenges not only how we perceive the planet, but also how we perceive one another. His story isn\u2019t just about changing perceptions: it\u2019s about what we value, what we assume and how much more is possible when we challenge our perception of a boundary.<\/p>\n

And perhaps one day soon John McFall will once again run on a treadmill in zero gravity, only this time it won\u2019t be a test. It will be a mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What if one person\u2019s journey could challenge how we define capability, not just in space but here on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125139,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[18,28434,19,17,1024,61369,133,5908,2731,393],"class_list":{"0":"post-125138","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-european-space-agency","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-nasa","13":"tag-paralympic-games","14":"tag-science","15":"tag-space-x","16":"tag-spacex","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}