This former Paralympic athlete could become the 1st person with a physical disability to live in orbit

A former Paralympic athlete could end up breaking some records in the final frontier. The U.K. government and the California company Vast have signed an agreement that aims to get John McFall , a reserve astronaut with the European Space Agency (ESA), on a research mission aboard Vast's Haven-1 space station. McFall, 45, is a surgeon with the United Kingdom's National Health Service who lost his right leg in a motorcycle accident when he was 19. He won a bronze medal in the 100-meter dash at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing. Vast is developing a line of Haven outposts , and Haven-1 is set to be the first in low Earth orbit (LEO). It will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as soon as next year. The newly signed memorandum of understanding is not a guarantee that McFall will fly to Haven-1. Rather, it "will see the U.K. Space Agency support Vast to secure sponsorships to fund a spaceflight for John," U.K. officials wrote in a June 2 statement announcing the agreement. If McFall does indeed get to fly, he will work on research related to physiology, as well as prosthetics and movement in space. The U.K. government noted that his work could directly benefit millions of people, and also further ESA's goal of expanding access to space, as well as Europe's role in enabling private interests to work in LEO. "The findings could have significant benefits for disabled people here on Earth, such as the design of lighter, more adaptable prosthetics on Earth," U.K. …