Tag Archive

Mission: AstroAccess

AstroAccess Announces Second Zero-Gravity Parabolic Flight

05/16/2022 LightHouse Staff

In 2021, LightHouse partnered with SciAccess Initiative for the launch of a new program, Mission: AstroAccess. Last October twelve people with disabilities took a series of zero-gravity parabolic flights, to conduct a series of tests to answer basic questions about how disabled people can safely and accessibly live and work in space. Four of the ambassadors on that inaugural flight were blind. Now AstroAccess is recruiting people with disabilities, including those who are blind or have low vision, for a second parabolic flight.

AstroAccess is an organization dedicated to promoting disability inclusion in space exploration and will be flying a second cohort of Disabled Ambassadors on a zero-gravity flight to experience weightlessness and investigate microgravity accessibility solutions. AstroAccess Flight 2 will take place on November 19, 2022, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

You are eligible to apply if you are blind or have low vision, DeafBlind, Deaf or hard-of-hearing, have a developmental or neurodivergent disability, have a mobility disability, multiple disabilities, and other non-listed disabilities. You must be 18 years of age or older, use English or American Sign Language (ASL) and be a resident of the United States.

“We are so excited to make our official announcement of AstroAccess Flight 2 – our second fully chartered Zero-G flight,” says Anna Voelker, Executive Director of AstroAccess and SciAccess, Inc.

AstroAccess Flight 2 plans to include a combination of new and previous Ambassadors. Dr. Sheri Wells-Jensen who is blind is an AstroAccess Flight 1 Ambassador and member of the leadership team, said, “I am so excited to welcome new Ambassadors into our team. I look forward to working with them on new experiment tasks based on our learnings from Flight 1, which was a life-changing experience for me.”

The application to be a Flight 2 Ambassador will be open until June 3, 2022. Submit your application now at https://astroaccess.org/apply-now/

More details about AstroAccess can be found on our website at https://astroaccess.org/.

LightHouse News

Learn About Accessibility in Zero Gravity at Our White Cane Day Event, 10/15

10/13/2021 LightHouse Staff

Please join the San Francisco LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired virtually this Friday, October 15 for a White Cane Day Event, “Will There Be Space for White Canes in Space?

LightHouse partnered with SciAccess Initiative for the launch of a new program, Mission: AstroAccess which will take a group of 12 cross-disability ambassadors on a series of weightless parabolic flights on October 17. The ambassadors have visual, hearing and mobility disabilities and will test various designs for accessibility in zero-gravity and high gravity environments by performing targeted tasks during the flights.

Now’s your chance to meet the four ambassadors who are blind at this Friday’s White Cane Day Event.

What: LightHouse White Cane Day Celebration – “Will There Be Space for White Canes in Space?”.
When: Friday, October 15 from 11:00 am to noon Pacific
Where: Online via Zoom or phone
RSVP: Register for the White Cane Day Celebration on Eventbrite. After you sign up, you will receive information to join the event using Zoom or the phone. You may also email Sheri Albers at SAlbers@lighthouse-sf.org for the event details.

Now, here’s a little bit about the four blind ambassadors you’ll meet this Friday.

Sina Behram

Mr. Behram is an accessibility consultant, computer scientist, researcher, public speaker, entrepreneur, and founder of Prime Access Consulting. He was recognized in 2012 as a White House Champion of Change for his doctoral research work enabling users with disabilities to succeed in STEM fields.

Website: www.sinabahram.com

Dr. Mona Minkara

Dr. Minkara is an Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at Northeastern University and leads the Minkara COMBINE (Computational Modeling for BioINterface Engineering) Lab researching pulmonary surfactant. Mona is also a 2019 winner of LightHouse’s Holman Prize for Blind Ambition and used her funds to document her independent travel around the world through her YouTube channel “Planes, Trains, and Canes”.

Website: monaminkara.com

Zuby Onwuta

Mr. Onwuta is a Harvard-MIT trained innovator, US Presidential Service Award recipient, US Army Veteran, and founder of both Think and Zoom and Future of Disability. He is the patented inventor of Brain control for Blind Assistive Tech, a solution that reads and responds to human brain waves and provides hands-free vision augmentation and reading assistance.

Website: zubyonwuta.com

Dr. Sheri Wells-Jensen

Dr. Wells-Jensen is an associate professor of linguistics at Bowling Green State University where her research focuses on social aspects of human colonization, astrobiology, disability, and the relationship between language and thought. She studies the ways in which alternative sensory inputs influence the evolution of scientific thought and is currently writing a book about disability and space.

LightHouse News

LightHouse partners with SciAccess to launch Mission: AstroAccess

07/21/2021 LightHouse Staff

LightHouse is excited to partner with SciAccess Initiative for the launch of a new program, Mission: AstroAccess. This is a program designed to bring diversity and inclusion to the STEM field in a study that will consist of a group of ten disabled people that will participate in a historic zero gravity parabolic flight. The flight’s blind, low vision, Deaf, and disabled volunteers will complete targeted tasks during the flight to help answer basic questions about how disabled people can safely and accessibly live and work in space.

“Space is not just part of humanity’s future – it is a place where we can rethink life on earth today,” says Mission: AstroAccess project lead, George Whitesides. “With this flight we hope to lay the foundation for future disabled space explorers.”

The goal of this mission is to bring together the largest and most diverse group of disabled crew members in a weightless environment, with the hopes to learn how to adapt and make accessible outer-space travel for disabled space explorers, scientists, and researchers. The Mission: AstroAccess parabolic flight is scheduled to take place on October 17, 2021, launching from Long Beach, California.

“Our mission is to change outer space and change the world. If you are a disabled person who is confident, enthusiastic, playful, and literally willing to float upside down to change the future, we are looking for you!” says Dr. Sheri Wells-Jensen, Associate Professor of Linguistics at Bowling Green State University.

So, what else does it take to be a participant in Mission: AstroAccess? You must be eighteen years of age or older, a speaker of English or American Sign Language, a resident of the United States, and you must be blind, low vision, Deaf, and/or someone who identifies as disabled. Applications are now open and will be accepted through August 15. Mission: AstroAccess will be hosting an informational webinar for all of those interested in applying for a mission slot on July 21. Until then, you can find more information about Mission: AstroAccess on the project website.

“This partnership is the first step in making the people who explore space look like all Americans,” said LightHouse CEO Bryan Bashin. “Blind people have been explorers, scientists and communicators for millennia, and Mission: AstroAccess and the LightHouse for the Blind – San Francisco will help move our contributions into space.”

We are excited and proud to be part of this inclusive change to the STEM field, and encourage all of our students, friends, and mentors within the blind community to apply for a mission slot. Together, the blind community can help make space inclusive and accessible for all.

For more information about the work that SciAccess Initiative does, please visit the SciAccess website. You can apply for a participant slot for Mission: Astro Access by following this link.