AstroAccess, a project of SciAccess, Inc., is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting disability inclusion in space exploration. Founded in 2021, AstroAccess conducts parabolic flights with disabled scientists, veterans, students, athletes, and artists to test accessibility tools and spacecraft designs in microgravity. These "AstroAccess Ambassadors" advocate for global disability access in STEM, with the ultimate goal of enabling disabled astronauts to thrive in space. The organization partners with over 30 entities, including the Zero Gravity Corporation, to advance accessible spaceflight design.
All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.
Sheila Xu is the Director of Development at AstroAccess.
AstroAccess sends individuals with disabilities on parabolic flights to assess their ability to work in microgravity for short periods.
AstroAccess completed its first formal research flight, AA2, onboard Zero-G Corporation’s aircraft on 2022-12-15 in Houston, Texas.
AstroAccess collaborated with Sony and SonicCloud during AA2 to demonstrate a system using SonicCloud’s sound personalization software with Sony headphones to improve speech understanding for Hard-of-Hearing and Blind Crews.
Mission: AstroAccess, led by SciAccess in partnership with numerous nonprofit organizations, will send a crew of disabled researchers on a parabolic zero-G flight later in 2021.
AstroAccess Flight 2 will take place on 2022-11-19 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Dylan Taylor will donate an amount equal to what he paid for his NS-19 flight to organizations including Space for Humanity, AstroAccess, Edesia Nutrition, and the Brooke Owens and Patti Grace Smith Fellowships under a "buy one, give one" initiative.
AstroAccess and Zero Gravity Corporation completed a parabolic flight with a crew of 12 ambassadors with mobility, vision, and hearing disabilities on 2021-10-17.
The AstroAccess mission was part of SciAccess and operated under the fiscal sponsorship of Yuri’s Night.