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What makes the FAA think they have exclusive domain to define the word astronaut? ...the agency says would-be astronauts must have also "demonstrated activitie
by rkagerer 5y ago
What makes the FAA think they have exclusive domain to define the word astronaut?
...the agency says would-be astronauts must have also "demonstrated activities during flight that were essential to public safety, or contributed to human space flight safety".
What exactly counts as such is determined by FAA officials.
This definition is selective and stupid. I agree a single, suborbital stunt flight doesn't make the cut in my personal vernacular. But if someone e.g. serves as a science officer on a flight or simply spends three months on the ISS doing nothing more than shooting professional photos I would call them an astronaut.
Christa McAuliffe didn't make it past launch but Wikipedia calls her an astronaut and I think you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who wants to refute that.
- ceejayoz 5y agoThe FAA decides who gets an astronaut pin from the US government. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Astronaut_Badge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Astronaut_Badge You can call yourself one, if you like. They just won’t recognize it.
- oneplusone 5y agoJust because I took a ferry doesn't mean I am a sailor.
- Dylan16807 5y ago99% of sailors don't contribute to public safety.
- notjulianjaynes 5y agoThis seems like a step by the FAA towards a new kind of airman certification as space travel becomes more accessible. It's probably fair to call anyone who was ever airborne in a Wright brother's craft an airplane pilot, but I'm not one if I fly Delta today.
- comodore_ 5y agothe term "astronaut" is not tied to universal characteristics such as having been to earth's orbit. instead, the term was introduced by NASA and is explicitly reserved for crew members of NASA space programs who have been to orbit or beyond. therefore there are also no soviet astronauts
- krick 5y agoUh, indeed one would likely use the word "космонавт" talking about soviet astronauts, and one could claim that "astronaut" is somehow NASA-related since USA was the second country that had astronauts, but the word "astronaut" was introduced in science fiction long before NASA even existed and is not even an English word. So that claim is dubious at best.
- rsstack 5y agoDid she get wings posthumously? She was astronaut by training, and people may call her that, but she didn't get the wings as far as I can tell. Bezos isn't even an astronauts by training, definitely doesn't have the wings - but people may call him anything they like.
- cbm-vic-20 5y agoIf you haven't pooped in zero-G, you're not an astronaut.