Transport secretary weighs in
That was just about how things were until Thursday evening, when the secretary of the US Department of Transport, Sean Duffy, shared a few thoughts about the social media site X.
“The last FAA guidelines under the Astronaut Wings program of the commercial space were clear: crew members traveling to space must have demonstrated during the flight 'activities that were essential for public safety, or have contributed to the safety of human space,” Duffy wrote. “The crew that flew to space this week on an automated flight from Blue Origin was brave and glamor, but you can't identify as an astronaut. They don't meet the FAA astronaut criteria.”
So there it was: the leading American officer about transport stated that Perry et. All. Were not astronauts. This is a pretty striking explanation.
To begin with, the Federal Aviation Administration, an agency within the US Department of Transport Duffy Leads, has previously said that it will not participate in determining whether people flying on suborbital flights are astronauts. The agency makes this clear on his Human SpaceFlight page and says: “The FAA does not indicate anyone as an 'astronaut'. Moreover, the FAA does not define where the space starts.”
To take a step back, the FAA created a commercial “astronaut Wings” program in 2004 to recognize the two pilots of SpaceShipone, Mike Melvill and Brian Binnie, who flew the vehicle above 50 status miles (80 km). After that time, the program recognized private citizens who flew on the Unity SpaceCraft of Virgin Galactic, the new Shepard from Blue Origin and SpaceX's Orbital Crew Dragon vehicle. You flew and you have astronaut wings.
Then in December 2021 the desk no longer stopped wings. “With the arrival of the era of commercial space tourism, starting in 2022, the Federal Aviation Administration will now recognize individuals that reach space on its website instead of publishing the astronaut wings of commercial space,” the agency said. “Every person who is on a FAA-License or permitted launch and reaches 50 articles of association kilometers above the earth's surface will be stated on the site.”
