researching the ability of disabled people to function independently in space and developing tools they could use to do soin addition to modified spacesuits for mobility impaired passengers researchers tested special lighting systems for deaf passengers and braille and navigational devices for blind passengersto navigate the plane as a blind person mona minkara 33 tested an ultrasonic device and a haptic or vibrating device both of which signaled her as she approached the planes walls and other objects but the most helpful device she said was the simplest an extendable canewhat was surprising to me is at some points i knew exactly where i was and how i was facing she saiddr minkara a bioengineer at northeastern university in boston pointed out that making spacecraft navigable for blind people would also help keep other astronauts safe if the lights go out during a spacecraft emergencyimagecredital powersastroaccesszero g corporationsome on sundays flight once dreamed of becoming professional astronauts and hope this research could open the door for other disabled people to get the jobthe european space agency announced this year that it is accepting astronaut applications from those with leg amputations or who are especially short and hopes to expand to include more types of disabilities in the future courtney beasley a spokeswoman for nasa said the american agency is not currently considering changing its selection criteriasome private space companies rules are more forgiving than those of government agencies although spacex did not respond to requests for comment hayley arceneaux became the first person with a prosthetic to travel to orbit in september during the inspiration4 flight aboard the companys crew dragon capsuleaxiom space which is booking flights on spacexs vehicle to the international space station and virgin galactic which flies a suborbital space plane do not have a list of disqualifying conditions for astronauts and say they consider accommodations on a casebycase basisdr tarah castleberry the chief medical officer of virgin galactic said the company will conduct medical screenings for each astronaut to ensure safety and is currently considering flying people who have prosthetics hearing impairments paralysis and other medical conditions and physical disabilitiesimagecredital powersastroaccesszero g corporationblue origin the company owned by jeff bezos the founder of amazon said in a statement that passengers must meet its own list of functional requirements that may exclude blind deaf or mobilityimpaired individuals from flyingapurva varia 48 is deaf and one of the people who would continue to be excluded by such rulesspace organizations told us that we cant go to space but why show me proof he saidin ninth grade mr varia recalls watching a space shuttle launch on tv the channel didnt have closed captions so mr varia didnt understand what the shuttle was or why people were sitting inside wearing orange suits when the countdown hit zero he said he was amazed to see it blast into the sky and disappearsoon afterward mr varia wrote a letter to nasa asking if he could apply to be an astronaut he got