The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) changed the criteria for awarding the title of astronaut and receiving the Astronaut Wings badge on the day of the flight into space of the founder of Amazon and the richest man in the world, Jeff Bezos.
According to the new rules, astronauts in the United States can now be considered those who are on the crew and make a significant contribution to ensuring flight safety. At the same time, what the last wording means is not specified. Until last Tuesday, since 2004, to be awarded the title of astronaut, it was enough only to rise to an altitude of at least 80 km above the Earth.
Based on the new rules, the Federal Aviation Administration does not recognize billionaires Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson as astronauts, as well as other space tourists who have entered space recently. 82-year-old Wally Funk, a participant in the Mercury 13 female astronaut training program, may eventually receive the title of astronaut for her past achievements.
We will remind, on July 20, Jeff Bezos made a space flight on his New Shepard rocket. Together with him went into space his younger brother Mark, pilot Wally Frank and 18-year-old Oliver Damen. The ship climbed to an altitude of 107 km, and the flight took 10 minutes.
On July 11, Virgin Galactic launched its Unity-22 spacecraft with Richard Branson and several other astronauts. The ship climbed to a height of 86 km.
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