The European Space Agency announced Feb. 14 that John McFall, a reserve member of the agency’s astronaut corps, had been certified by a multinational medical board for long-duration missions to the ISS.

The certification is noteworthy because McFall lost his right leg in a motorcycle accident at the age of 19 and wears a prosthesis. He is the first person with such a disability to be medically approved to train for missions to the station.

“John is today certified as an astronaut who can fly on a long-duration mission on the International Space Station, and I think this is an incredible step ahead in our ambition to broaden the access to society to space,” Daniel Neuenschwander, ESA’s director of human and robotic exploration, said at a briefing to announce the certification.

ESA selected McFall as part of an astronaut class announced in 2022. That selection process included an effort by ESA to pick what it called at the time a “parastronaut” to see if people with some physical disabilities could safely fly to space.

Since his selection, McFall has participated in a feasibility study called “Fly!” that looked for any issues that might prevent him from going to the station, including both his health and overall safety of ISS operations.

“Let’s not underestimate all elements linked to safety procedures when you operate on the International Space Station,” said Neuenschwander. “In all honesty, I was personally expecting some eventual showstoppers there, and I’m really happy to see that we went through that and it’s behind us.”