En el centro de astronautas de la Agencia Espacial Europea (ESA) en Alemania, el británico John McFall se prepara para convertirse en el primer astronauta con discapacidad física en vivir en órbita. La misión, prevista para 2027, forma parte de un acuerdo entre la Agencia Espacial del Reino Unido y la empresa emergente estadounidense Vast, que construye la estación espacial Haven-1.

Poco después de la firma del acuerdo, la iniciativa recibió apoyo desde distintos sectores científicos y gubernamentales. Según The Guardian, diario británico, la misión contempla una estancia de dos semanas en la estación Haven-1, desarrollada por Vast en California. El proyecto busca reunir a cuatro astronautas en un entorno equipado con laboratorio de microgravedad y una ventana para observar la Tierra.

De acuerdo con el mismo medio, la Agencia Espacial del Reino Unido trabajará junto a la empresa emergente para asegurar patrocinios que financien el viaje del exdeportista. El traslado a la estación se realizaría en una cápsula Crew Dragon de SpaceX, utilizando un cohete Falcon 9. Como alternativa, el plan contempla una posible misión privada de Vast a la Estación Espacial Internacional (EEI) en 2027.

En 2008, McFall ganó la medalla de bronce en los 100 metros de los Juegos Paralímpicos de Beijing. 11 años antes, había perdido la pierna derecha en un accidente de motocicleta. Después de su recuperación, se dedicó al atletismo y más tarde se especializó en cirugía ortopédica en el Servicio Nacional de Salud británico (NHS).

En el año 2022, la Agencia Espacial Europea lo seleccionó para el proyecto Fly!, que investiga la viabilidad de que personas con discapacidades físicas participen en misiones espaciales de larga duración. El objetivo es evaluar tanto las condiciones físicas de los astronautas como el desempeño de las prótesis modernas en ambientes de microgravedad.

La misión de McFall va más allá del reto personal. Según The Guardian, su experiencia podría aportar datos sobre la adaptación de las prótesis en el espacio y mejorar el diseño de dispositivos más ligeros y funcionales. Además, el trabajo de investigación abordará afecciones como la osteoporosis y la atrofia muscular, frecuentes durante las estadías prolongadas en órbita.

“Es una oportunidad apasionante. Sacia mi curiosidad por el conocimiento y la ciencia”, dijo en declaraciones citadas por el medio británico. Añadió que ve el proyecto como un desafío personal y un avance social, ya que busca romper prejuicios sobre las capacidades de las personas con discapacidad física.

A nivel institucional, la Agencia Espacial del Reino Unido remarcó que la misión representa un avance hacia la inclusión. La participación de John allana el camino para futuras investigaciones y programas de rehabilitación enfocados en personas amputadas o con movilidad reducida.

La estación espacial Haven-1 ofrecerá un entorno controlado para examinar el impacto de la microgravedad sobre el cuerpo humano y la tecnología de las prótesis. Según Vast, empresa estadounidense, el interior de la estación estará revestido con madera de arce y contará con espacios adaptados para el trabajo científico y la vida cotidiana de los astronautas.

El astronauta británico Tim Peake, quien integró la misión Principia de la ESA en 2015-2016, expresó su emoción por el paso que se dará con John McFall: “Es una inspiración para todos aquellos a quienes alguna vez les han dicho que existen límites a lo que pueden lograr”, sostuvo. En paralelo, destacó que el acuerdo firmado marca un hito para los vuelos espaciales tripulados inclusivos.

Su presencia en la misión busca transmitir un mensaje sobre la diversidad y la igualdad de oportunidades en la exploración espacial. El propio exdeportista subrayó: “Estamos diciendo que está bien que las personas con discapacidad sean astronautas. Hemos demostrado que es posible».

La empresa prevé concluir la construcción de Haven-1 antes de 2027. El cronograma contempla pruebas de seguridad, selección de tripulantes y simulacros previos al lanzamiento. La decisión final sobre la participación de McFall dependerá de las evaluaciones médicas y técnicas realizadas por la ESA y la Agencia Espacial del Reino Unido.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., lashed out at towel-clad Republican staffers outside the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s (DSCC) headquarters this week after they confronted him and other top Dems over their support for scandal-plagued Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner.

Video obtained by Fox News Digital shows the Republican protesters, including staffers from the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), dressed in towels to mock a sexually suggestive Kik profile photo of Platner that showed the Democratic Senate hopeful shirtless with a towel around his waist.

«Do you support Graham Platner even though he’s on Kik?» one protester asked Sanders outside the DSCC headquarters in Washington, D.C., where Platner and other top Dems were seen entering and exiting to meet with the embattled candidate ahead of his June 9 primary.

Platner’s campaign has been dogged by controversies, including a tattoo recognized as a Nazi symbol that he has since covered up, resurfaced Reddit posts that blamed rape victims, pushed racial stereotypes, mocked a Purple Heart veteran, and encouraged political violence, among other controversial comments on the popular blogging platform.

WATCH: DEM SENATORS EXCUSE PLATNER’S CONDUCT AT CRISIS HUDDLE WITH EMBATTLED MAINE CANDIDATE

Meanwhile, Platner’s issues continued just days ahead of his primary after it was reported Platner had exchanged sexually-explicit text messages with other women during his marriage and had an active Kik profile featuring a shirtless mirror selfie with a towel around his waist, a photo GOP staffers appeared to mock outside the DSCC by showing up in towels. Kik is an anonymous messaging app linked to child exploitation cases, which child-safety groups have criticized as a «predator’s paradise.»

Chants of «Platner is a creep!» and «Delete your Kik!» alongside signs that read «PEDO PLATNER MESSAGED KIDS» could be seen in video of the demonstration caught by Fox News Digital.

Republican staffers, including National Republican Senatorial Committee staffers, protest outside the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C., wearing towels to mock Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner’s reported Kik profile photo. (Nicholas Ballasy/Fox News Digital)

«Are you with the Republican party?» Sanders shot back in response to the protester’s question about Platner’s Kik account.

CORY BOOKER ADMITS GRAHAM PLATNER ‘HAS QUESTIONS TO ANSWER’ FOLLOWING LATEST SCANDAL

«It doesn’t matter,» the protester returned before Sanders lashed out about Republican «morality» amid the heated back-and-forth.

«Are you talking about morality and corruption? With President Trump?» Sanders shouted at the protesters as he pointed back at them. «Have a nice day,» he said before walking off.

Fox News Digital has found no evidence that Platner communicated with minors on Kik. The controversy surrounding the account centers on the app’s child-safety reputation, the sexually suggestive profile photo and its emergence alongside separate reporting about Platner’s sexually explicit messages with women during his marriage.

Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner stand together during a «Fighting Oligarchy» tour stop at the Collins Center for the Arts on the University of Maine campus in Orono, Maine, on May 24, 2026. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Meanwhile, Platner has disputed portions of the reporting surrounding his personal life, while his wife has criticized the disclosure of private details about their marriage. He has also apologized for past online comments and said the tattoo, which he has since covered, was obtained years ago without knowledge of its Nazi associations.

The confrontation outside the DSCC underscored the increasingly public effort by Republicans to turn Platner’s controversies into a liability for national Democrats, including Sanders and other top party figures who have continued to stand by him ahead of Maine’s June 9 Democratic Senate primary.

The Trump administration is rolling out what experts describe as the most significant expansion of U.S. sanctions on Cuba in decades.

The administration is attempting what supporters say is the first broad application of Cuba-related secondary sanctions against foreign firms, aiming not only at Havana itself but also at foreign companies and banks that continue doing business with the island’s military-linked economic empire. 

The new framework, established under an executive order signed by President Donald Trump May 1, applies pressure beyond U.S. companies for the first time, threatening foreign firms with sanctions exposure if they continue operating in key sectors of the Cuban economy linked to Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A., or GAESA.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION PRESSED TO CLOSE CUBA EMBARGO LOOPHOLE AS OIL SET TO RUN OUT WITHIN DAYS

Supporters say the move closes a loophole that allowed foreign investors to sustain Cuba’s communist regime while the longstanding U.S. embargo largely restricted Americans.

Critics argue the measures risk worsening an already severe humanitarian crisis on the island without meaningfully weakening the government.

«At the top of the month, what the Trump administration did was for the first time extend the application of U.S. sanctions from just prohibiting trade between U.S. firms and U.S. persons and the Cuban island to third-party countries and enablers,» Max Meizlish, a former Treasury Department official now serving as a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital in an interview.

«For the first time ever in a truly unprecedented fashion, that’s the same logic that the administration is now applying to Cuba,» he said.

The sanctions focus heavily on GAESA, a sprawling military-linked conglomerate that analysts estimate controls between 40% and 70% of Cuba’s economy, including tourism, mining, retail, ports and financial services. 

A recent Foundation for Defense of Democracies report authored by Meizlish and Connor Pfeiffer argued that foreign companies doing business in Cuba are effectively helping sustain the regime’s military and political leadership.

TRUMP DECLARES NATIONAL EMERGENCY OVER CUBA, THREATENS TARIFFS ON NATIONS THAT SUPPLY OIL TO COMMUNIST REGIME

Images of late Cuban President Fidel Castro, Cuba’s former President Raul Castro and Cuba’s President and First Secretary of the Communist Party Miguel Diaz-Canel are displayed in a billboard in Havana, Cuba, April 12, 2023.  (Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters)

The State Department sanctioned GAESA and several affiliated entities in May under the new authorities, opening the door for potential penalties against foreign companies and financial institutions that continue dealings with them after a June 5 wind-down deadline.

Meizlish argued previous sanctions regimes failed because they isolated American companies while allowing foreign actors to continue financing the Cuban state.

«There’s a lot of Spanish firms, for instance, that have invested millions of dollars in luxury hotel properties, villa properties in Cuba that partner with GAESA, all funding this military enterprise at the expense of the Cuban people,» he said.

He also pointed to Canadian involvement in Cuba’s nickel and cobalt sectors, saying foreign investment has generated «huge amounts of money for the regime.»

«A lot of people think about the U.S. embargo over the years is actually being responsible for a lot of the problems on the Cuban island, but they don’t give consideration to the fact that GAESA, this newly sanctioned entity, has been sitting on an estimated $20 billion in assets and cash over the year while depriving the people of Cuba,» Meizlish told Fox News Digital.

But critics of the policy warn the economic fallout could land hardest on ordinary Cubans.

William LeoGrande, a longtime Cuba expert at American University, said the May 1 measures represent a major escalation because they specifically target foreign businesses rather than just Americans.

LeoGrande said the new sanctions represent a major escalation because they extend beyond Americans and aim to deter foreign companies from doing business with GAESA by threatening sanctions exposure.

LeoGrande acknowledged the measures could deprive the Cuban government of revenue but argued the broader population is likely to suffer most.

CUBA’S ENTIRE ELECTRICAL GRID COLLAPSES, LEAVING WHOLE ISLAND WITHOUT POWER

A woman with her son signals a car on a dark street during a blackout in Bauta municipality, Artemisa province, Cuba, on March 18, 2024.  (YAMIL LAGE/AFP via Getty Images)

«This would potentially deprive the Cuban government of funds, but the impact will fall mainly on ordinary citizens because it means the government has fewer resources to import food, medicine and fuel,» he said.

The debate comes as Cuba faces its deepest economic and humanitarian crisis in years. 

The World Food Programme says food insecurity is worsening amid fuel shortages, inflation and declining access to imported goods, while U.N. officials have warned that electricity shortages and blackouts are disrupting hospitals, vaccination programs and food distribution networks across the island.

LeoGrande also warned tougher sanctions could contribute to another migration crisis.

NICARAGUA BLOCKS PATHWAY USED BY CUBAN MIGRANTS TO REACH THE US

Protests take to the streets in Cuba over food, electricity shortages.  (Reuters)

«Another unintended effect is that by making living conditions in Cuba even more desperate, tougher sanctions could trigger a mass migration like we saw in 1980 or 1994,» LeoGrande said.

On background, a U.S. official rejected arguments that American sanctions are responsible for Cuba’s humanitarian crisis.

«The suffering of the Cuban people is not caused by the U.S. embargo but by the Cuban dictatorship’s failed Communist policies and human rights violations,» the official told Fox News Digital. «The embargo does not prohibit Cuba’s access to world markets or trade with third countries.»

The official added that U.S. law explicitly permits exports of food, medicine and medical equipment to Cuba and accused the regime of hiding «billions in overseas bank accounts instead of investing in electricity, infrastructure and the daily needs of its people.»

The debate mirrors longstanding arguments surrounding U.S. sanctions on countries like Iran and Venezuela, where supporters view economic pressure as a tool to weaken authoritarian governments while critics argue regimes often survive and civilians absorb the economic damage.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Meizlish argued sanctions should not be judged simply by whether they immediately topple governments.

«The problem isn’t that the embargo went too far,» he said. «It’s that it didn’t go far enough.»

Fox News Digital reached out to the Cuban Embassy in Washington for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.