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Anderopolis t1_ixle4ak wrote

Reply to comment by Ambiwlans in Europe names world's first disabled astronaut | European Space Agency on Wednesday named the first ever "parastronaut" in a major step towards allowing people with physical disabilities to work and live in space. by yourSAS

Both is true, ESA wants to investigate how different disabilities affect people in space, and so they set out to find people with physical disabilities that were best suited for Astronaut work.

We gotta learn from somewhere, and as Spacetravel becomes safer, we can send people with less narrow requirements than traditional Astronauts.

It used to be that Astronauts couldn't wear glasses, but now they can.

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HardwareSoup t1_ixn2ue9 wrote

I agree it's really important.

But all the talk about "representation" generates the impression that he didn't get there based on merit, especially to those around him.

The news can say "First X to Z!", but the statement from the selecting agency should always be "They were the best one for the job".

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Anderopolis t1_ixo0hsj wrote

But that is the ESA announcement, he was the best qualified applicant for the para-astronaut position.

Representation is more media fluff, him being disabled was a criteria for the job.

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