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Meet the first wheelchair user to travel to space  January 15, 2026

 

Rise up, sunshine. Welcome to the show. I'm Coy Wire.

 

This is CNN 10 and we got your news for this January 15th, the birthday of one of the most important leaders in American history, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

 

Born in 1929, right here in Atlanta, Georgia, he became a Baptist minister and a powerful voice for civil rights. Dr. King led peaceful protests to challenge racism and segregation, believing that change should come through nonviolence. His famous, I have a dream speech inspired millions to imagine a more equal nation.

 

In 1964, he won the Nobel Peace Prize and his legacy continues to shape the fight for justice. Today, happy birthday, sir.

 

Next up, also on this day in history, January 15th, 2009, a story that still feels impossible years later.

 

A passenger plane lost both engines just after takeoff over one of the busiest cities in the world. And the pilot's split second decision saved dozens of lives. Just minutes after takeoff from New York's LaGuardia airport, US Airways flight 1549 runs into trouble.

 

Cactus 1539 hit birds, lost thrust. I'm hoping it's returning back towards LaGuardia.

 

thrust [θrʌst] n.【物】推力，驱动力

 

Okay, you need to return to LaGuardia. Turn left heading of 220. 220. Tower, stop your departure. Got emergency returning.

 

A bird strike, birds entering both engines, causes an immediate loss of power. With no runway within reach, Chesley Sully Sullenberger makes a split second decision to land on the Hudson River. We may end up in the Hudson.

 

All 155 passengers and crew on board survived. Investigators later confirmed that Sullenberger made the safest possible call and the landing became known as the miracle on the Hudson.

 

In aviation, the bottom line is that the single most important piece of safety equipment is an experienced, well-trained pilot.

 

the bottom line 最重要的事实

 

Next up, a spaceflight that's made history shattering the ceiling on who gets to soar among the stars. A paraplegic engineer from Germany is now officially part of space history.

 

paraplegic [͵pærəˋplidʒɪk] adj. 下身麻痹的

 

Michaela Michi Benthaus is a mechatronics and aerospace engineer at the European Space Agency. Disability advocate and now the first wheelchair user to fly above the Kármán line, the internationally recognized edge of space.

 

mechatronics [͵mɛkəˈtrɑnɪks] n.【电子】电子机械学（利用微电子理论来控制机械装置的学科）

 

Seven years after a mountain biking accident and a spinal cord injury, Benthaus says her life changed, but her lifelong dream of going to space did not.

 

I think there was not like this one moment where I realized that my dream of going to space is not over.

 

Blue Origin says the spacecraft itself didn't need redesigning because accessibility was part of the original New Shepard design, while ground systems like elevator access and improved harnesses help astronauts get in and out safely.

 

harness [ˋhɑrnɪs] n. 挽具状带子；降落伞背带；保险带；安全带

 

Benthaus says being first isn't just about space, it's about inclusion for everyone.

 

I feel like a little bit the responsibility of being the first wheelchair user is also to point back on Earth. Of course, if we want to be an inclusive society, we should be inclusive in every part and not only in the parts we like to be.

 

Minutes later, main engine cutoff, separation and permission to float.

 

After a brief trip above the Earth, the capsule returned safely to the desert in Texas.

 

You told me after your accident that you thought this dream of going to space was no longer possible. You just showed the world that it is possible. What would you say to folks?

 

What would you say to folks that have given up on a dream because they thought it was impossible?

 

I think you should never give up on your dreams, right? But I mean, there's also sometimes just a low probability that it comes true. And I just got very lucky and I'm very grateful that Blue and Hans and everyone said yes to this journey.

 

Pop quiz hot shot.

 

In the early 1900s, which innovation helped popularize typewriters in offices?

 

Battery power, carbon paper, touch typing or colored ink.

 

If you said touch typing, you are within the margins. It is a technique where you don't look at the keyboard, relying on muscle memory.

 

All 10 fingers start from the home row. ASDF for the left hand, JKL for the right.

 

Have you heard of a trendwhere some people are choosing to revert back to a more analog version of a cell phone in an attempt to spend less time scrolling on social media and other apps on a smartphone?

 

analog [ˋænəlɔg] n. & adj.【电脑】類比

 

Well, a similar revolution is unfolding when it comes to laptops, where some students and employees are choosing to complete writing assignments and tasks on a typewriter instead of an internet connected computer.

 

Our Rafael Romo speaks with a typewriter collector about what's old becoming new again.

 

Typewriters are making a comeback. What is it that a computer cannot do that a typewriter can?

 

The typewriter removes distractions from the writing process.

 

Writers like JK Rowling of Harry Potter fame, as well as pop stars like Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift have publicly expressed they are fans.

 

I think all of these people have found that the typewriter enables that creative process. So says Tom Redkoff, better known as typewriter Tom, who for decades has fixed and collected typewriters.

 

This is called a catacombs because it has that sort of eerie feeling to it.

 

catacomb [ˈkætəkum] n. 地下墓穴, 陵寝

eerie [ˈɪri] adj. 怪異恐怖的

 

How many machines do you think you have all together in these rooms?

 

All together in these rooms, probably a thousand machines spread across pretty much every manufacturer since late 1800s.

 

While many manual typewriter shops have closed their doors, new stores have recently opened in Merrimack, New Hampshire, Dayton, Ohio and Chicago.

 

See this is called a type shuttle. The renewed interest in typewriters keeps Redkoff busy, leading meetings of the Atlanta Typewriter Club he founded.

 

I would say this is early 1900s.

 

And visiting schools and museums where he introduces younger generations to typewriters.

 

Every time I go to a school, I leave them a typewriter. I get haikus back from the kids.

 

haiku [ˈhaɪku] n. 俳句 (是一种源自日本的短诗形式，以其简洁和对自然的观察而闻名)

 

I get pictures back that they typed and I love it. That's just the fun of doing it.

 

A childhood accident left a young man with lasting scars.

 

Years later, it led him to a calling few would dare to choose. This is the journey of Terry McCarty.

 

This burn survivor faced his fears to become a firefighter himself.

 

That first fire when it actually became active really kind of gave me a lot of throwbacks to when my accident happened.

 

throwback [ˈθrobæk] n. 有旧时特点的事物

 

When Terry McCarty was just six years old, an accident caused burns over 73% of his body after his brothers lit a bowl of kerosene on fire.

 

kerosene [ˈkerəsin] n. 煤油

 

So the full bowl of flaming kerosene flew at me, it hit me in the chest and effectively caught me on fire.

 

The neighbor came home, saw what was happening. He grabbed his sleeping bag that he had in his car came over and tackled me and put me out.

 

What followed was a long physical and emotional road to recovery.

 

I would have 58 surgeries over a period of 10 years. It was really difficult because I'd missed a lot of school due to the surgeries and then also didn't have very good friend support because you know I wasn't constantly at school going to things like that.

 

Even as an adult, McCarty found employers unwilling to give him a fair chance.

 

I tried to get a job as an oil technician and the manager that was on duty that day told me that I would be a liability, that I wouldn't be able to go work for him.

 

liability [ˌlaɪəˈbɪlətɪ] n. 麻烦，累赘; 不利条件

 

So that's why I went out and decided what's the one thing I can do that would just stop everybody in their tracks.

 

stop everybody in their tracks 让所有人都惊得目瞪口呆、停下脚步

 

This photo of McCarty captures the moment his training as a volunteer firefighter became deeply personal.

 

When the fire reached me in the training and it kind of went over me it took any kind of remaining fear issues or anything like that that I really had with it.

 

Today, McCarty volunteers at the same camp for child burn victims that he attended and he has transitioned to work in peer mental health counseling.

 

When people happen to have that same kind of internal trauma and they see me you know that that really breaks down a lot of barriers for people to understand that you know I've been through some things myself.

 

My job is to really just connect with people and help them realize that you know in their journey of healing really they are in the captain's seat for this process. I'm just a navigator.

 

Today's story getting a 10 out of 10.

 

The good old-fashioned compassion of a student which turned a school pantry into a place of support for entire community. During her senior year at Ames High School in Iowa, Kaitlyn Okerlin learned about food systems in class while seeing more families rely on food pantries due to the government shutdown.

 

pantry [ˈpæntrɪ] n. 食品储藏室; 食品储藏柜；餐具间

 

So she created simple grab-and-go meal kits from her school's pantry to make dinner time easier for families.

 

The pantry got a big increase in people who kind of needed it so just making it as simple as possible like grab and go. We look for things that are completely shelf stable high in protein that'll be filling.

 

The kits include multiple meals, recipes, even birthday cake kits because celebrating still matters even during hard times.

 

What started as one student's mission has quickly grown. The pantry is in partnership with the Food Bank of Iowa and has become a central hub for similar pantries helping to meet the demand across the community.

 

Kaitlyn spends about four hours each week at the pantry determined to make the most of her time before she graduates.

 

I mean this is super fun, it's super rewarding. We're looking for more recipes and to expand and like hear what people like, what they want more of.

 

Turning class lessons into community action now that is a 10 out of 10.

 

Okay what do you say we have two shout outs for you today. The first one goes to Miss Bradshaw at Riverdale High School in Jefferson, Louisiana. Thank you for including us in your classroom. Rise up.

 

And Valley View Middle School in Edina, Minnesota. Thank you for these custom M&M's.

 

We have some of my lines on there like rise up sunshine. We have my face. I appreciate the gesture but you know I'm really big into fitness.

 

Big on fitness. Whole jar of M&M's in my mouth. Mmm delicious.

 

I hope your day is as sweet as mine. I'll see you tomorrow. I'm Coy Wire and we are CNN 10.