Are they really astronauts
Flying for Minutes at or near ??
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Astro-Nuts is more like it 😊
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Just very expensive carnival rides IMO.
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No more so than taking an airline flight makes you an "aviator". If these joy rides get popular, they (whoever "they" might be) will have to redefine what the title of astronaut means. Unless "they" don't care how much the title is demeaned by granting it to every T,D, & H who rides one of these things up and down.
I think the title ought to be reserved for active crew members, not passengers. Precedents include both Alan Shepard and Virgil Grissom, who rode the first two suborbital Mercury capsule flights, as well as several X-15 pilots who got past the arbitrary altitude defining space - and all of which were given astronaut status for doing so.
(Both Shepard and Grissom later flew orbital missions besides.)
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Well NASA has been dead on their ass doing nothing for the last few decades.
Other than paying Russia when we want to hitch a ride, they haven’t been good for much.
I think competition is a good thing.
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I was watching them show the "passengers" as they reached the 280K mark, their max height achieved and noticed that the ladies onboard hair never floated as if in weightlessness like real female astronauts do, their hair was not pulled back or restrained in anyway that I could tell. I'm not sure I'd call that a space flight. 🤔
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Warbirds: 31151053557915/comments/31151120999707
Well NASA has been dead on their ass doing nothing for the last few decades.
Other than paying Russia when we want to hitch a ride, they haven’t been good for much.
I think competition is a good thing.
Been 10 yrs. July 8th since the Shuttle program ended
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IMO ....................NO they are passengers but I will say they have guts.
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...In the strict definition of the word " astronaut", yes, they are astronauts, they fulfilled the requirements as defined by Webster...as far as being the well trained NASA Astronauts, as we have come to know...they're not even close...
WEBSTER DEFINITION:
Definition of astronaut
: a person who travels beyond the earth's atmosphere
also : a trainee for spaceflight
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select-fire: 31151053557915/comments/31151122514075
https://forums.gunbroker.com/discussion/comment/11282983#Comment_11282983
Been 10 yrs. July 8th since the Shuttle program ended
Are you aware that NASA outsourced just about every aspect of the Space Shuttle beginning in 1996.
UNITED SPACE ALLIANCE (half Boeing half Lockheed Company) most certainly ran the shuttle program throughout its lifetime.
NASA is really just a contract management organization, not even a shadow of what it once was.
Private Contractor to Manage NASA Space Shuttle Program (Published 1996)
NASA will turn over much of space shuttle program to private contractor, United Space Alliance, under six-year, $7-billion contract (S)3 -
Warbirds: 31151053557915/comments/31151107628955
https://forums.gunbroker.com/discussion/comment/11283018#Comment_11283018
Are you aware that NASA outsourced just about every aspect of the Space Shuttle beginning in 1996.
UNITED SPACE ALLIANCE (half Boeing half Lockheed Company) most certainly ran the shuttle program throughout its lifetime.
NASA is really just a contract management organization, not even a shadow of what it once was.
https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/01/us/private-contractor-to-manage-nasa-space-shuttle-program.html
Sure did. Made Space Shuttle / Military and Commercial Aircraft parts till 1990. 1986 Challenger incident really put the hurt for a couple of yrs.
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I would not consider them true astronauts.
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Junkballer: 31151053557915/comments/31151061228059
I was watching them show the "passengers" as they reached the 280K mark, their max height achieved and noticed that the ladies onboard hair never floated as if in weightlessness like real female astronauts do, their hair was not pulled back or restrained in anyway that I could tell. I'm not sure I'd call that a space flight. 🤔
Saw a clip of the flight on the news. Passengers and their hair were floating around for a few minutes as if weightless from the curvature of the flight path.
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OK! I will call them "SPACE CADETS" 😁
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If we were to create a special category for them, it would be "asterisknauts".
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Well, to over-simplify...
Musk got his billions by founding and then selling PayPal. Used his money to found Tesla, SpaceX, and a couple more.
Bezos got his billions by founding and (just recently) leaving Amazon. Used his money to found Blue Origin space company.
Branson founded Virgin Airways and has a lot fewer billions than either of the above, but managed to build Virgin Galactic.
SpaceX has been wildly successful, Tesla so/so, and his other enterprises are still operating.
Blue Origin has yet to build any successful space hardware except his up/down New Shepard passenger capsule.
Virgin Galactic just did what you summarized.
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I would call them Poornots
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Maybe Not-Nauts.
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@...: 31151053557915/comments/
I keep hearing about how Richard Branson allegedly "beat" Jeff Bezos, and that he was "first" at something.
Okay, I guess I'll be..."That Guy".
Branson did just exactly what "first"?
And who the heck is Jeff Bezos??
So Branson was the first to what, take paying passengers up to the Karman line? Big whoop. Pardon me while I calm down and regain my composure here.
Maybe it's just me, but doesn't anyone else find it even remotely curious that Branson, a guy who pleaded for government mercy and shelter for his Virgin emipire, due to the Chi-Com Flu, has the "disposable" income to take a bunch of paying customers almost into space just for the "fun" of it??? AND...that he allegedly "beat" another guy who appears to make his riches by working his employees so hard they have to pee in plastic bottles while driving just to stay employed??
I don't know about you, but I'm not so overwhelmed with excitement that I'm having to restrain myself from jumping out the window here!
So Branson did what, exactly? And...this Bezos guy is who again?
Elon Musk and SpaceX want to know!
Apparently Branson missed the Karman line by about 9.5 miles. Bezos is supposedly going to cross it.
There were X-15 pilots that went 90,000+ feet higher than Branson did and much higher that Bezos will.
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" was watching them show the "passengers" as they reached the 280K mark, their max height achieved and noticed that the ladies onboard hair never floated as if in weightlessness like real female astronauts do, their hair was not pulled back or restrained in anyway that I could tell. I'm not sure I'd call that a space flight. "
...They flew past the Karmen Line, the worldwide accepted definition of where "space" begins.
...I saw a news clip that showed everyone on board, out of their seats, floating around the cabin, didn't see any strings 😊...
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Argonaut: In Greek legend, any of a band of 50 heroes who went with Jason in the ship Argo to fetch the Golden Fleece.
Would I call the guy cutting potatoes in the galley an Argonaut? They guy scrubbing the decks? No.
How about the St. Crispin's Day speech from Henry V, Act IV?
This day is call'd the feast of Crispin.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say "To-morrow is Saint Crispian."
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say "These wounds I had on Crispin's day."
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words—
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester—
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be rememberèd—
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
There were other men there, but I wouldn't put them in with the Band of Brothers.
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What ever the altitude achieved it is a lot higher than I have flown as a pilot and a lot higher than I would prefer to have an important part crap out.
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wasDano, did you see the aerial shots of that part of New Mexico? The nearest shopping mall is in Arizona.
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No,they are not.
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They are closer to being astronauts than I will ever be.
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redneckandy: 31151053557915/comments/31151100885147
They are closer to being astronauts than I will ever be.
Same here ☹️
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Texas1911DE: 31151053557915/comments/31151110786203
" was watching them show the "passengers" as they reached the 280K mark, their max height achieved and noticed that the ladies onboard hair never floated as if in weightlessness like real female astronauts do, their hair was not pulled back or restrained in anyway that I could tell. I'm not sure I'd call that a space flight. "
...They flew past the Karmen Line, the worldwide accepted definition of where "space" begins.
...I saw a news clip that showed everyone on board, out of their seats, floating around the cabin, didn't see any strings 😊...
Tom Hanks did the same thing (downward decent) in a Boeing 747 with no strings while filming Apollo 13..........would you call him an astronaut ??.....I don't think so 😀
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Texas1911DE: 31151053557915/comments/31151110786203
" was watching them show the "passengers" as they reached the 280K mark, their max height achieved and noticed that the ladies onboard hair never floated as if in weightlessness like real female astronauts do, their hair was not pulled back or restrained in anyway that I could tell. I'm not sure I'd call that a space flight. "
...They flew past the Karmen Line, the worldwide accepted definition of where "space" begins.
...I saw a news clip that showed everyone on board, out of their seats, floating around the cabin, didn't see any strings 😊...
Richard Branson and his Virgin Galactic crew are safely back from space, ushering in a new era
The suborbital trip gave the British billionaire, his three crewmates and two pilots a glimpse of the Earth from more than 50 miles up and a few minutes of weightlessness.'The flight reached its apogee at 282,000 feet — 53.41 miles'
The Karman Line is at 100 kilometres or about 62 miles. Branson did not reach this, and is only considered an astronaut in the US, not the remainder of the world.
The passengers were in a parabolic arc when they were outside the atmosphere, which duplicates weightlessness. You can do this both inside and outside the earth's atmosphere. Weightlessness has nothing to do with being an astronaut.
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Astronaut status has nothing whatever to do with being "weightless". It has to do with crossing the so-called Karman Line, which was defined as the altitude at which aerodynamic lift (as with an aircraft) is no longer possible. It was originally calculated (by Theodore Karman) to be at about 84 kilometers. Later, the US and Russia rounded that off to a neat 100 kilometers (54 nautical miles, 62 stature miles, or 330,000 feet) and also established it as the boundary of national airspace. Below that, the airspace belongs to the nation underneath, and above it is free space. It is now the official internationally-agreed boundary of space.
Branson's wild ride the other day seems to have peaked out at about 287,000 feet. If so, they do NOT qualify as astronauts under the agreed-upon definition. Unless they whine and weedle using Karman's original calculation of roughly 275,000 feet, that is. Lowering the bar all on their own.
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