Space flights for people of determination | Gulf newspaper

Trained astronauts of people of determination have completed a zero-gravity flight 25,000 feet above Earth to study the possibility of designing spacesuits and spacecraft of the future more easily.

The group, consisting of 14 people with movement, vision and hearing difficulties, included scientists, engineers and doctors from 5 countries: Australia, Brazil, Germany, Spain and the United States.

The mission took off and landed at Ellington Airport, which is adjacent to Spaceport Houston and NASA’s Johnson Space Center, home to human training for US spaceflight.

It is noteworthy that the innovative suborbital flight was organized by the “AstroAccess” project, which specializes in promoting disability inclusion in space exploration, and took place on board a Zero-G plane, last Thursday.

One group tested a number of haptic graphics to add to the cabin walls that would allow blind or nearsighted crew members to stay oriented during emergencies, and help them find emergency equipment in zero gravity if the lights go out.

They were also able to demonstrate that a person with special needs can sit independently in a launch seat and easily fasten a five-point harness, thereby safely flying suborbital space missions.

Hearing impaired crews worked on improving the in-flight speech understanding systems using innovative audio personalization software from Sonic Cloud, according to a person’s ability to hear using Sony headphones. Deaf crew members also researched the ease of using American Sign Language in zero gravity.