https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57950149

How many mission specialists on shuttle flights would have qualified?

Or is this somebody thinking their club is not exclusive enough?


Bill

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Please unload your question before you ask it unless you have a concealed harry permit.

: countdown begin cr dup . 1- ?dup 0= until cr ." Launch!" cr ;

Give a man a rocket and he will fly for a day; teach him to build and he will spend the rest of his days sanding...

If one reaches the defined altitude of "space", one IS an ASTRONAUT, end of story.
I for one am sick of the bickering of what constitutes an "Astronaut". Whether by traditional scientific skill or by $$$ money, it DOES NOT MATTER.

Those that INCORRECTLY choose to not agree, SUCK ITT UPP and GITTTT OVERRRRR ITTT !

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Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, and HAVOC !

See attached from Aviation Week and Space Technology for new regs - usual government “fuzziness.”

Sorry GH - you don’t get to decide what makes an astronaut. That is the domain of admittedly stupid governments.

Probably will have a small impact on the space tourist business - the astronaut wings are a goal of many.

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Bill Cooke
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Huntsville, AL

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I know the goal — or dream — for me has been “I would like one day to go into space”, the word ‘space’ being the operative word.

Now, for many years as an adult, I realized quite some time ago I would probably never become an ‘astronaut’, as in one of those selected by NASA, trained for years for spaceflight, etc. BUT, now with the services being offered by these commercial companies (and should the cost ever get reasonable), I CAN still go into SPACE (my REAL goal), even if I never become an ‘astronaut’.

It is a minor word difference to me and, I would think, to many others. Like maybe saying “Geez, I always wanted to visit so-and-so state”, but I don’t have to become a resident and be known as a ‘Texan’ or ‘Virginian’ (or whatever state) to enjoy visiting there.

Earl

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Baloney !
YES, I can define what constitutes an "Astronaut".
FAR too many people rely on "governments" to define things.
They work for US, and NOT the other way around.

And no I'm not always right. I was wrong ONCE, and that was the time I THOUGHT I was wrong, but was ACTUALLY RIGHT, as usual.

__________________
When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, and HAVOC !

Okay, if I read that right 50 miles x 5280ft =264,000ft.

Thought it was higher than that when the USA and other countries agreed on what space was due to overflights and spy satellites.

Now comes the question of Astronaut Wings, do you get FAA wings for flying as a passenger?

Pilots have them because they are crew members. They spent some hard earned money on education and training to get them.

Richard Branson will probably get a set if he chooses to fly as a crew member on one of his flights. After all he is rated in almost everything he owns. Once his chief pilot finishes his training, and signs off for Mr. Branson to be qualified as a co-pilot or pilot he will get them.

Airlines used to hand out plastic wings to passengers, they were not from the FAA.

Meaning the company ones they received are only commemorative wings, nothing official. Still, I would like to earn a set...

63,000 feet is the same as being outside at 264,000ft for the human body. Meaning you will last about the same amount of time without a pressure suit or space suit.

Joe Kittinger in his book, Come Up and Get Me describes what happened to his right hand when his glove seal was lost when he did the first parachute jump above 102,000ft.

National Geographic sponsored part of the attempt wanting photos. You can read about it in the December 1960 issue-THE LONG LONELY LEAP. Still available on-line if you want to buy a copy.

Best regards,
Mike

Obvious not, though truly piloting a space craft above 54 miles had never been the requirement for earning past Astronaut pins. No-one ever really "pilots" a rocket, in any meaningful sense. All key stages of flight have been automated from the early days of space program. Today, even more than ever.

In the case of BO, the simplicity of the flight profile lend itself to full automation. Big deal. Goof for them.


If you got above 54 miles (aka space), by any methods available, you most certainly been to space. Whether FAA "blesses" you with an arbitrary bureaucratic title and a pin, or not, is of exactly zero consequence or significance to the folks involved.
Though this does make for a fun news story.

FAA's stance seams to be more along the lines of: "if you are not one of our 'crew', you can't have our pin". The premise of requiring "contribution to human spaceflight safety" is pathetic, as the only contributions towards that goal are made by engineers on the ground, who never actually go into space.

Luckily for everyone involved, no-one had asked FAA for a pin anyway.
Blue Origin minted its own:
https://futurism.com/jeff-bezos-astronaut


.

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Alan Sheppard did in fact, as all of the early Astronauts did, fly their space craft. One enjoyed flying his so much he almost ran out of fuel for re-entry control.

Didn't John Glenn pilot his back after part of the Auto system showed a failure?

Neil Armstrong on Gemini 8 had to take over the controls to pilot his vehicle back to earth for an emergency landing. The automatic system failed to control it when the maneuvering jets failed.

The X-15 program granted Astronaut wings to a few of it's pilots. To say it didn't do anything for safety is a far stretch. It proved the shuttle would work, they were going to do a delta wing version, finally realizing it wasn't needed.

After lift off, the Saturn V needed someone to throttle it up after pitch over. Yes, rockets can be flown by humans without automatic systems. What autonomous control was used in the X-15?

Joe Kittinger for sure proved that a parachute could work from such heights, he probably more than anyone proved a safety device could work.

Not once did I say they haven't been to space. They have been there, do they earn FAA or NASA Astronaut Wings for doing so, nope.

They didn't pilot them, they were just passengers.

You've just dis-honored every test pilot from the Wright Brothers on with this statement: "The premise of requiring "contribution to human spaceflight safety" is pathetic, as the only contributions towards that goal are made by engineers on the ground, who never actually go into space. ".

Without engineers, space flight would not be possible. But someone has to test their ideas. That someone puts his life on the line to do so.
People who have made the ONLY contributions are on the ground is laughable.



Best regards,
Mike Bauer