ONE GIANT LEAP FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
"This is a bigger story than my own. It is about rebuilding a life and now testing voice AI on a spacecraft," Rhonel Cinous says.
"If one
person, one child, one adult looks at this and the takeaway is to go above and
beyond any limitations they have — or that people put on them — it will be a
successful mission."
ONE GIANT LEAP FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
Always an avid reader and learner, Rhonel Cinous has used Amazon’s Kindle to digest vast volumes of content.
Post-injury,
he explored the possibilities of voice-activated commands via his smartphone.
Lately, he has been using an Echo Dot to interact with Alexa.
"I’ve
always had a heart for service, a desire to use my communication skills to help
others.
Sharing my life of living with spinal cord
injury, it shows wheelchair users can live exciting, productive lives," Cinous says.
ONE GIANT LEAP FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
Before his injury, the Brooklyn-born, Miami-raised Rhonel Cinous hosted the Morning Drive on WSRF 1580 AM alongside his cohosts Rebecca Laratte and Fabiola Charles.
It was a
slice of multicultural Miami; the broadcast was split between Haitian Creole
and English.
Rhonel Cinous did his rehabilitation at Jackson Memorial Hospital and
credits the "amazing staff" there.
He also praises
the fully accessible gym and community built at the world-renowned Miami
Project to Cure Paralysis.
ONE GIANT LEAP FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
Rhonel Cinous has become a leading voice for United Spinal’s Tech Access Initiative, advocating for inclusive technology that will help empower other wheelchair users to find greater independence and quality of life.
"For many members of the disability community, voice AI can make daily
activities that were once challenging much easier, so we have more time to
pursue our goals and aim for the stars.
I hope to
use this opportunity to raise awareness of the power of our voices and the
importance of developing cutting-edge technology that is inclusive to
all," Rhonel Cinous adds.
ONE GIANT LEAP FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
“When you are physically there, right where everyone has heard the phrase 'Houston, we have a problem,' you think about all the sacrifice that astronauts and scientists put into this," Rhonel Cinous says.
"You
also think about all the innovations in engineering, GPS, vaccines — that have
come from space exploration.
Who knows,
someday, using the weightlessness of being in space, they could have a doctor
onboard researching spinal cord injuries.
Or maybe ultralight,
super-strong materials developed could help build a better wheelchair."
ONE GIANT LEAP FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
"What I
found to be the most exciting was looking at a live view — pictures that Orion
took of the moon and Earth.
The engineers
were repositioning the capsule, so we saw it moving in real time," Rhonel Cinous
says.
"When it was facing the sun, it was bright in the cockpit.
Then it rotated, and sun
moved across windows of the shuttle.
Depending on
where the camera was pointing, we could see the completely black darkness of
space."
Amazon says
voice technology has the potential to make astronauts’ jobs simpler and more
efficient onboard the Orion spacecraft.
Virtual crew
members like Cinous simulated potential Alexa interactions with future
astronauts, asking the voice AI to fulfill various requests.
ONE GIANT LEAP FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
He
participates in United Spinal’s tech group and hosts the Ramp. It. Up! Podcast.
Amazon got involved in developing Callisto and testing commercial technologies,
in this case, Alexa, to see how the company could assist crewed missions to the
moon and beyond.
The company
wanted a diverse group of virtual team members, so it reached out to United
Spinal, and Cinous became part of the program.
He joined representatives from the space, science, and education sectors.
ONE GIANT LEAP FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
"It’s like every science fiction movie — you roll down a long hallway with no windows.
Then you
come into a room with super-intelligent engineers and scientists," Cinous
says.
"We
basically walked through what astronauts would do: wake up the system, garner
oxygen levels in the capsule, check the speed and velocity of Orion, and gauge
the distance between the spacecraft to destinations like the Earth or
moon," he says.
"Just
like I ask Alexa at home, we told it to play music — who wouldn’t want a little
ambiance music in space? The scientists created a customized rap.
Then we altered the lighting a bit to make it more festive
ONE GIANT LEAP FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
The
facilities were largely wheelchair accessible, and a video screen linked to
cameras inside the model crafts allowed Cinous to explore visually.
“We walked
and rolled past space suits and where the astronauts train,” he says.
Next came the working part of the trip.
ONE GIANT LEAP FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
Rhonel Cinous was at the Johnson Space Center between December 8 and 10 to remotely send voice commands to Amazon's virtual assistant Alexa onboard the unmanned Orion spacecraft during its mission to orbit the moon.
Carried out
in partnership with Lockheed Martin, Amazon, and Cisco, the Callisto project
aimed to show how voice-command technology could help out astronauts on future
missions.
ONE GIANT LEAP FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
 |
| Rhonel Cinous and Vincenzo Piscopo CEO of United Spinal Association at Johnson Space Center |
"I was
awestruck when I found out I was part of the crew," says Rhonel Cinous,
who uses a power wheelchair for mobility.
"This
is the first time something like this has been attempted, and I’m humbled I was
a part of it and represented the disability community."
ONE GIANT LEAP FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
 |
| Rhonel Cinous and Vincenzo Piscopo CEO of United Spinal Association at Johnson Space Center |
Rhonel Cinous, a podcaster and former radio host, has always been a techie.
His interest in adaptive and voice-controlled technology arose after he
experienced a severe spinal cord injury in a snorkeling accident in 2016 during
his first visit to Haiti, his family’s home country.
Following his recovery, the Miami-based Cinous never imagined he would
contribute to a NASA space mission.
But this
month, he found himself at the Johnson Space Center in Houston as part of a
virtual team testing out Callisto, a communication technology project for the
Artemis I mission's Orion spacecraft.
TO TELL DISABILITY POSITIVE STORIES
I put on my
public relations hat and l reached out to friends at WSVN to pitch the story of
Rhonel Cinous' virtual flight to the moon.
Reporter
Kevin Ozebek delivered a pitch perfect story
I hope
everyone -- from space exploration fans to those who champion equity and
inclusion for people with disabilities – will share this story.
Rhonel's work with the Artemis1 crew for NASA was made possible by the amazing folks at the United Spinal Association.
Brilliant
Chief Marketing Officer Tom Scott led this.
United
Spinal's leadership by CEO Vincenzo Piscopo is opening new horizons for people
with disabilities.
I’m proud to work with a client as successful at United Spinal.
Here’s the story:
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
