Richard Branson to the world’s richest man Jeff Bezos has had experience with zero gravity. Can they be called astronauts?
The two figures really want to open the doors of space tourism for everyone. Even so far, the people who have participated in space tourism are the spinning rich.
Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Galactic, along with three passengers and two pilots, managed to reach a suborbital altitude of 88 km on 11 July.
Nine days later, Jeff Bezos, founder of Blue Origin and Amazon, along with his brother Mark Bezos, 18 -year -old Oliver Daemen, and 82 -year -old grandmother Wally Funk also managed to reach space.
Well, astronauts are aimed at people who explore outer space. Unfortunately, those who go into empty space through space tourism do not deserve the ‘title’ of astronaut.
The flight regulator of the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has tightened rules on the definition of astronauts.
In the U.S., there are three institutions that can be real astronauts, namely through the U.S. military, NASA, and the FAA. The first two agencies, of course, will award astronaut ‘titles’ to those working under the auspices of the U.S. military and NASA.
The only civilians officially known as astronauts by flying commercial spacecraft are those who have obtained permission from the FAA.
Not just anyone gets permission from the FAA. This astronaut candidate has a certificate from the FAA, flying more than 80 km.
In addition, demonstrate activities during flight for public safety or contribute to the safety of human space flight.
They should also act as crew members who have many tasks in flight, not just as passengers. That is the content of the latest guidelines published by the FAA.
The only exception is Beth Moses, a Virgin Galactic executive who flew on SpaceShipTwo in 2019.
In the case of Richard Branson’s flight with three other passengers, they were referred to as crew. It is unclear what their contribution is to space flight safety in general.
While Jeff Bezos along with three other passengers just sat. Launch until full control is done on the ground. Therefore, it also does not meet the requirements of the new FAA rules.
Yet quoted from New Scientist, Friday (23/7/2021), Wally Funk was trained to be an astronaut in the 1960s, but at the time he did not go into space. Having been involved in a Blue Origin flight test some time ago, this 82 -year -old grandmother could be an exception.
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