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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Frank Filz wrote:
> Hmm, I might dispute the first civilian astronaut bit. Dennis Tito would
> qualify for that in my book.
Tito wasn't an astronaut (or, technically, in his case, a cosmonaut). He was
sentient ballast. An astronaut is defined as a pilot or crew member on a space
flight, not a tourist.
> Well, actually, before that Christa McAuliffe would qualify even though she
> never actually made it into space.
If she would have qualified (I'm not sure if she reached the 50 mile barrier or
not), then so does every payload specialist who wasn't a government employee.
That would then mean that Dr. Byron K. Lichtenberg became the first "civilian
astronaut" on November 28, 1983, twenty-six months to the day before the last
Challenger mission (the other Payload Specialist on STS-9 was part of the ESA
program, so he doesn't count). But yeah, everyone seems to have turned this
from the "first civilian space-flight" into the "first civilian astronaut".
My biggest concern about all of this is where things are going to go from here,
since the only real buzz right now is about tapping the space-tourist market.
Yes, it's cool that a privatized space flight has finally been achieved, but
what real purpose do any of the X-Prize designs serve? As best I can tell, none
of them are really suited for anything more than spicing up family photo albums
and/or dramatically increasing membership in the Zero-G Club, which are hardly
noble causes. When privatized space flights can repair/recover the Hubble,
transport construction materials for the ISS, land on the moon, or even acheive
an extended orbital flight for research...then I'll be impressed. Until then,
just remember that Joe Walker flew an X-15 airplane to an altitude of 354,109
ft, nearly five miles higher than Melvill's flight.
I don't think NASA is in any danger of being supplanted by any of the X-Prize
contendors or their offspring within my lifetime, since the primary intended
market appears to be one that they've long ago declined to pursue.
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