John McFall: Para-astronaut on a mission to open up space

On a parabolic flight last year, where John experienced weightlessness for the first time, he found his day-to-day, hi-tech, microprocessor prosthetic leg would need recalibrating.

In fact, John thinks he might need several prosthetic legs on the ISS.

“There would be a prosthesis for running, a back up for the microprocessor prosthesis, and then there’s the mechanical one, which will probably need to be worn inside the spacesuit for launch and return,” he explains.

“I’ll need a bit of a wardrobe of prosthetic hardware.”

ESA is the first space agency to carry out a project like this.

Until now, John’s disability would have prevented him from becoming an astronaut. But Frank De Winne, the head of the European Astronaut Centre, wants to change that.

“We think this is a great opportunity because we have so many great talents – people that have a disability, like we see with John,” he says.