Testing of Disabled Astronaut’s Prosthetic Leg in Space Raises Safety Concerns

The world’s first disabled astronaut, former British Paralympian John McFall, is having his prosthetic leg tested by the European Space Agency (ESA) to ensure it does not emit toxic gases in the air inside a space station. Mr. McFall was selected to join the ESA in November 2022 and is currently undergoing astronaut training and a feasibility project with the goal of boarding the International Space Station (ISS).

Mr. McFall, who lost his right leg in a motorcycle accident at 19 but later became a professional track and field athlete, is having tests carried out on his prosthetic leg to ascertain if the carbon fiber socket and high-density foam inside it will emit gases in the ISS’s air, which is constantly recycled.

The feasibility study aims to assess the impact of being an amputee and wearing a prosthesis on the requirements for living and working in space and to test possible solutions to any issues. A decision on whether Mr. McFall will fly on a mission into space will likely be made after the study’s conclusion in 2025.

According to the Telegraph, Mr. McFall expressed his concerns about the materials in his prosthetic leg. He stated, “The socket is carbon fibre and it’s got like a high-density foam on the inside. The carbon fibre socket is impregnated with a resin. The foam is made with polymers. Those materials will continue to give off gases to one degree or another and in an environment like the ISS where the air is constantly recycled, any significant amount of gases that are produced from a material will be amplified over a period of time because they’re not filtered out.”

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Olivia Carter

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