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Former Paralympian John McFall is working with the European Space Agency on a ground-breaking study to see if it’s feasible for someone with a physical disability to live and work in space. BBC News has been following his progress as he undergoes astronaut training.
It’s a test that any budding astronaut has to go through. But it’s not for the fainthearted – or the claustrophobic.
With a clang, the door slams shut, enclosing John McFall in the darkness of a coffin-sized metal box.
The spinning begins.
He’s in a giant centrifuge, being whizzed around and around, to mimic the extreme gravitational forces of a rocket launch – and the even more extreme G-Forces of coming back down.
“The faster it spins, the higher the G load,” John explains.
“And today we’re going to be going up to about 6 Gs – so six times the force of gravity. It replicates what it would be like during re-entry into the atmosphere in a Soyuz capsule.”
The test is part of John’s training programme with the European Space Agency.
In 2022 he was selected as their first astronaut candidate with a physical disability, to work on a ground-breaking study to see if he could go to space safely.
John’s an amputee, he lost the lower part of his right leg in a motorcycle accident when he was 19.
He usually wears a hi-tech prosthesis.
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