They aren’t astronauts

[samintx]

They are Space travelers or something other than astronauts...who pilot the rocket or plane. I don’t mean to be picky but let’s call both space ventures what the are or aren’t.

[Fritz]

rastros nuts

[N-OS X-tasy!]

Astro-nots.

[hal]

astronauts is fine with me...

[rgG]

I have known a lot of “space cadets” who have never been up in a rocket.

Like Astro-nots. :thumbsup:

[btfc]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fND5WUxwi_Y

[Ombligo]

By your definition, Alan Shepherd was not an astronaut. He had no control over the capsule during his suborbital flight. Neither was any number of payload specialists.

It would be better to use the NASA definition of Astronaut. The space agency will not call anyone an astronaut until they are assigned to an official mission and get to fly. You are an astronaut candidate before that time. So they are not technically astronauts as it was not a NASA mission.

Branson's flight did not get high enough to meet the criteria of space. So they missed out as well.

SpaceX crew made the height and were working with NASA, so they are Astronauts.

The crew of the Challenger were Astronauts because it was a NASA flight that had lifted off. Only two of the three Apollo 1 crewmembers were astronauts - Grissom and White had already flown to space previously. Chaffee had not flown and the mission had not yet started, so he was still a candidate.

But I digress.

[Blankity Blank]

hal wrote:
astronauts is fine with me...

Same here. They would have died just as dead as anyone else if there was a bad enough glitch in these still experimental vehicles.

There’s evidence that at least some, if not all, of them are considerably less than saintly. At the same time I wouldn’t cast any of them as true monsters.

From where I sit, there’s a degree of unclinching that could be done on this subject. The death wishes and the like I’m seeing many places is over the top.

[Filliam H. Muffman]

One member of the Mercury space program and three space flight passengers (Rocketpersons?).

[Paul F.]

If you pass the Karman line (100Km/62 Mi) in altitude, I'm perfectly OK with them earning Astronaut wings, or some variation thereof.

I'm willing to debate the status of the passengers and crew of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShip 2, since it achieved the U.S. Armed Forces "line" of 80km/50mi, but not the internationally recognized 100km/62mi Karman "line". However, I would fight to have those people that have previously earned their Astronaut Wings (X-15 pilots, for example) for breaking the 80km line RETAIN their wings.

I congratulate BOTH companies and their passengers, and I see no reason NOT to give them all the accolade they've earned.

We are at the dawn of a new "space age", and we need to adapt.