A new boundary has been broken as Michaela Benthaus, a paraplegic engineer, became the first wheelchair user to float in space.
"I never really thought that going on a spaceflight would be a real option for me because even as like a super healthy person, it's like so competitive, right?" she told the Associated Press.
Blasting off from West Texas with Jeff Bezos' company Blue Origin, the flight lasted 10 minutes and reached a height of more than 65 miles above the earth.
Benthaus had done some prior training, including a two-week simulated space mission in Poland and a parabolic flight out of Houston, which allows passengers to experience brief moments of weightlessness.
Yet, Benthaus did not expect this trip.
Hans Koenigsmann, a retired SpaceX executive, reached out to offer her a ride on a flight he was organizing.
Benthaus thought at first that the offer might be a misunderstanding. She severely injured her spinal cord in a mountain bike accident seven years ago.
"There is like no history of people with disabilities flying to space," she said.
When she discovered that Blue Origin's space capsule had been designed for a range of accessibility and that Koenigsmann was offering to sponsor her trip, she immediately agreed.
Koenigsmann and Benthaus practiced in advance of the flight, with Koenigsmann designated as her helper in case of an emergency.
The flight went off without a hitch. When the capsule touched down in the desert, the team unrolled a carpet that provided immediate access to her wheelchair, which she left behind at liftoff.
"I really hope it's opening up for people like me, like I hope I'm only the start," she said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.