UNITED SPINAL MEMBER FLIES TO THE MOON

AS A VIRTUAL ARTEMIS I CREW MEMBER

“You can use Alexa to set up your home environment,” Rhonel Cinous says. 

“You can check the front door via Ring, play music, turn on a light, control a fan, and more. It can be boundless in the ways it gives you independence.”

Alongside Alexa’s journey during Artemis I, Amazon will introduce new ways to make space exploration more accessible to its customers. 

Just ask your Alexa-enabled device, “What is Artemis I?”

“This is a bigger story than my own,” says Cinous about being an Artemis I crew member.

“If one person looks at this and their takeaway is to go above and beyond any limitations they have — or that people put on them — it will be a successful mission.”

 

 

UNITED SPINAL MEMBER FLIES TO THE MOON

AS A VIRTUAL ARTEMIS I CREW MEMBER

“I joined the Miami Chapter, got a peer mentor, Ryan Gebauer, looked up New Mobility magazine and got active via Zoom when meetings went more virtual during the pandemic,” he says.

Before his injury, Rhonel Cinous used Amazon’s Kindle to read vast volumes of content across his phone, tablet, and laptop. 

Post-injury, he explored the possibilities of voice-activated commands via his smartphone. Currently, he uses an Echo Dot to interact with Alexa.

UNITED SPINAL MEMBER FLIES TO THE MOON

AS A VIRTUAL ARTEMIS I CREW MEMBER

“This virtual crew opportunity will show the world that individuals like myself with a mobility disability still have opportunities,” says Rhonel Cinous.

“It might be digital or virtual, but you can be a core part of it.

You can even be part of a groundbreaking team guiding a first-of-its-kind experiment to put Alexa on a spacecraft.”

Cinous is a leading voice for United Spinal’s Tech Access Initiative, advocating for inclusive technology to empower wheelchair users to find greater independence and quality of life.

He discovered the organization by joining one of its spinal cord injury support groups.

UNITED SPINAL MEMBER FLIES TO THE MOON

AS A VIRTUAL ARTEMIS I CREW MEMBER

“I was awestruck when I found out I was part of the crew, and I’m humbled to represent the disability community,” says Rhonel Cinous, a Haitian-American based in Miami. 

He wonders how assistive technology may help his career as a podcaster — his current show is Ramp. It. Up! 

As an Artemis virtual crew member, “I can test digitally accessible, voice-activated communications, and I’m excited to help drive technology to new levels.”

Amazon believes voice technology may make astronauts’ jobs more straightforward and efficient onboard the Orion spacecraft. 

Virtual crew members like Cinous will simulate potential Alexa interactions with future astronauts by making various requests.

UNITED SPINAL MEMBER FLIES TO THE MOON

AS A VIRTUAL ARTEMIS I CREW MEMBER

Throughout the mission, Amazon, Lockheed Martin, and Cisco will invite guests to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, to become virtual crew members. 

Amazon invited United Spinal, which chose Rhonel Cinous, a C5-6 quadriplegic leader with the Tech Access Group, to be its representative.

The mission will also test Callisto, a technology demonstration payload developed by Lockheed Martin, Amazon, and Cisco.

UNITED SPINAL MEMBER FLIES TO THE MOON

AS A VIRTUAL ARTEMIS I CREW MEMBER

United Spinal Association member Rhonel Cinous is flying to the moon! Virtually, that is, as a member of the Artemis 1 mission’s virtual crew.

After months of delay, Artemis I finally launched at 1:47 a.m. November 16. 

It will orbit the moon over the next 25.5 days before splashing down off the coast of San Diego. 

NASA hopes Artemis I will prepare the way for a manned spacecraft to return to the moon.

Artemis I is the first integrated test of NASA’s deep space exploration systems — the Orion spacecraft, the Space Launch System rocket and the ground systems at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.