We were delighted to sit down with John McFall: Paralympian, Orthopaedic Surgeon, and now the first person with a physical disability to be certified for space flight. We talk about John's extraordinary journey, the hardest parts of astronaut training, the weird science experiments he'd like to try out in space and his experience with the ESA Fly! study, which proved that a physical disability need not be a barrier for the astronauts of the future. ENGAGE WITH SPACE! Mission X - Train Like an Astronaut https://trainlikeanastronaut.org/ Watch John's Keynote at UK in Space Festival: • John McFall: the WORLD'S FIRST Astronaut w... GET IN TOUCH Visit the National Space Centre: https://www.spacecentre.co.uk Send us your space question! Email podcast@spacecentre.co.uk FOLLOW US ON SOCIALS Facebook: facebook.com/@NationalSpaceCentre Instagram: instagram.com/spacecentre TikTok: tiktok.com/@spacecentre Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/spacecentre.bsky.social Threads: threads.com/@spacecentre TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 John McFall: Paralympian, Surgeon & Astronaut 00:44 Who is John McFall? 02:17 Interview Starts 04:58 Does he ever stop!? 05:50 Journey to the Paralympics 11:10 From Paralympian to Astronaut 13:50 Fly! Feasibility Study 18:42 International Collaboration 20:35 The Hardest Part of Astronaut Training 22:44 John's Favourite Space Experiments! 26:26 Osteoporosis in Space? 29:18 Upcoming Space Missions 30:53 Mission X: Train Like an Astronaut 32:26 "Do Something that Interests You" 33:22 Behind the Scenes

From PARALYMPIAN to ASTRONAUT: A Conversation with John McFall