Jeff Bezos is still not an astronaut, according to the FAA

[Elderberry]

PHYS.org by Josh Rivera, Usa Today 7/26/2021

Just because you were in space doesn't mean you get the wings of an astronaut.

The Federal Aviation Administration set new rules concerning the Commercial Space Astronaut Wings Program and the criteria used to award those commanding, piloting or working on privately funded spacecraft with the Commercial Space Astronaut Wings badge.

The order was issued on July 20, the same day billionaire and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his Blue Origin rocket crew made history by blasting off from the West Texas desert, reaching space and returning to Earth.

NASA, the Air Force, the Federal Aviation Administration and some astrophysicists consider the boundary between the atmosphere and space to begin 50 miles up. Bezos actually met the requirement by going 62 miles above sea level.

To earn the wings, the FAA now states that passengers must have "demonstrated activities during flight that were essential to public safety, or contributed to human space flight safety." Given the automation of Blue Origin, Bezos doesn't meet this criteria.

New Shepard, a 60-foot rocket and capsule, was designed primarily for space tourism thanks to fully automated flight systems, meaning nobody was piloting the craft nor contributing to "human space flight safety." After liftoff, the booster returned to the facility for a vertical landing while the capsule briefly floats in space, then touched down near the launch site with the help of parachutes.

More: https://phys.org/news/2021-07-jeff-bezos-astronaut-faa.html

[Wingnut]

But he will always be a hemorrhoid.

[Smokin Joe]

An automated system that will take a group 65 miles up and get them safely back isn't a "contribution to safety"?

Like the guy or not, moving the goalpost isn't cool.

[Elderberry]

An automated system that will take a group 65 miles up and get them safely back isn't a "contribution to safety"?

Like the guy or not, moving the goalpost isn't cool.

The passengers did not have a role in that. Bezos was only a passenger during the flight. Not a pilot or operator.

[Cyber Liberty]

I wonder if Jake Garn was considered an "astronaut?"

[Elderberry]

I wonder if Jake Garn was considered an "astronaut?"

I'm sure he got his wings. I bet he was trained as most any other "Payload Specialist", with training as a "Non-Pilot Astronaut".

EXPERIENCE: Senator Garn is a former insurance executive. He served in the U.S.Navy as a pilot. He also served in the Utah Air National Guard as a pilot and retired as a  full  Colonel  in  April  1979.  He  has  flown  more  than  10,000  hours  in  military  and private civilian aircraft

SPACE  FLIGHT  EXPERIENCE:  Senator  Garn  flew  as  a  payload  specialist  on  STS-51D  Discovery  (April  12-19,1985). STS-51D was launched from  and  returned  to  land  at  the  Kennedy  Space  Center,  Florida.  It's  primary  objective was to deploy two communications satellites, and to perform electrophoresis and echocardiograph operations in space in addition to a number of other experiments. At the conclusion of the mission, Senator Garn had traveled over 2.5 million miles in 108 Earth orbits, logging over 167 hours in space. Senator Garn is the first member of congress to fly in space.

Hell. I even flew the Shuttle Simulator and didn't crash. I wouldn't think he would be able to fly on the Shuttle without some training.

[Smokin Joe]

The passengers did not have a role in that. Bezos was only a passenger during the flight. Not a pilot or operator.

If the system was automated, they were all passengers.

[mystery-ak]

FAA Rule Change Strips ‘Astronaut’ Title from Jeff Bezos

Alana Mastrangelo 27 Jul 2021

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has been stripped of his “astronaut” titles by the FAA. According to the agency’s revised definition of astronaut, the term may only be used for those that “demonstrated activities during flight that were essential to public safety, or contributed to human space flight safety.”

The FAA has tightened the official definition of an astronaut, which strips Bezos and his fellow Blue Origin passengers of the term, as they have failed to meet the new criteria on their recent flights, according to a report by ABC 7. Richard Branson would have also been stripped of the title based on his Virgin Galactic flight, but it occurred about a week before the rule change.

Astronauts now have to be part of a crew that “demonstrated activities during flight that were essential to public safety, or contributed to human space flight safety,” according to the FAA’s new rules regarding the Commercial Space Astronaut Wings Program.

The updates reportedly make for the first time the rules have been changed in 17 years.

more
https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2021/07/27/faa-rule-change-strips-astronaut-title-from-jeff-bezos/

[dfwgator]

Write them a bigger check, Jeff.

[Smokin Joe]

Wonder who he pissed off at the FAA?

[Elderberry]

https://americanmilitarynews.com/2021/07/us-makes-it-harder-for-jeff-bezos-richard-branson-to-be-called-astronaut/

However, founders of Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic could still be awarded honorary astronauts wings if the FAA believes their contribution to commercial human spaceflight “merits special recognition.” The associate administrator for Commercial Space Transportation (AST-1) has complete discretion in bestowing honorary wings for demonstrating “extraordinary contribution or beneficial service to the commercial human space flight industry.”