Astronauts?

[Henro]

They take a short ride on a commercial capsule, and claim to be astronauts?

I have flown many commercial flights...guess I am a pilot now...LOL

 

[lugbolt]

by definition, yes if you leave earth's atmosphere, you are an astronaut.

 

[dlsmith]

I guess if you spend that much money for a 100 mile ride, you can call yourself whatever you want.

I would prefer the term reserved for those that achieved at least one orbit of the planet or were launched on a downrange ballistic flight, like Scott Shepherd.

 

[FarmerJohn]

They become a cashtronaut, not a real astronaut.

 

[Pawnee]

They take a short ride on a commercial capsule, and claim to be astronauts?

I have flown many commercial flights...guess I am a pilot now...LOL

No, I don't think so.
If you fly with a commercial airline(in the back) you are closer to a farm animal.

 

[lugbolt]

I'd do it in a heartbeat, if I had the money. Always been a dream.

 

[ccoon520]

I guess if you spend that much money for a 100 mile ride, you can call yourself whatever you want.

I would prefer the term reserved for those that achieved at least one orbit of the planet or were launched on a downrange ballistic flight, like Scott Shepherd.

What does an orbit around the planet change? The ISS orbit earth every 90 minutes so let's assume the capsule would be 25% slower since it doesn't need to maintain orbit that'd only be like an extra 112 minutes is 0 g than they spent up there.

They still went through all the same risks by strapping themselves to a bomb and launching into near total vacuum then re-entry into earths atmosphere. I'll be completely honest if I was on that launch I would call myself an astronaut as well.

It'd be like saying Harrison wasn't an actual US President because he was only in office for 30 days. The threshold is set at the point of occurrence not be the length of time spent in that state.

 

[Henro]

I'd do it in a heartbeat, if I had the money. Always been a dream.

I started this thread a bit in jest, and no, I do not think I am a pilot because I fly cattle car!

But now, even if the trip were free, I am kind of thinking I would decline. ONLY because of the risk/benefit. If the worst happened, there would be no more enjoying the grand kids, life in general, and so on. Or sushi either! LOL

So at this point in my life...I'll limit my exposure to flying commercial and driving, and tractoring naturally!

 

[random]

Tom Cruise wants to make the first movie in space. Would be hard to not give him "astronaut" after that.

But looks like Russia beat him to it.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

re: I have flown many commercial flights...guess I am a pilot now...LOL

you'd have to sit in one of 2 seats to be a pilot....BTDT 5 decades ago....
I have NO desire to parachute ( 2 chances to live) , I see those guys every weekend from my back deck, even during covid !!