21^st CENTURY HEADLINES: First wheelchair user goes into space. “A German engineer has become the first wheelchair user to go into space.Michaela Benthaus, an aerospace and mechatronics engineer at the European Space Agency, crossed the Karman line, the internationally recognised boundary of space, during the 10-minute Blue Origin flight. Ms Benthaus, 33, from Kiel in Schleswig-Holstein, suffered a spinal cord injury in a mountain biking accident seven years ago.”