Too strong in my mind.

I just watched Bezos speaking about the launch.
- He sounded like a cowboy and wearing the appropriate hat. :confused:

Totally unexpected!

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cHB8-bBKoVc" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

In my opinion, calling someone an astronaut is about the same as calling some one a driver, swimmer, or a climber.
Other organizations set the bar for "space" higher than NASA.
However, we're in the US.

Well sure , I'm a driver, but i'm no F1 driver
I can and hav driven same tracks, at speed, reasonably capable.. but still limited

I'm a swimmer, i won't drown, but clearly not going to win any races or swim across any sea channel.

I've never really done any climbing.. other then stairs :D
I did get very high tho, probably much higher then Beezos and buzz.. but that didn't' make me an astronaut.. there's high and HIIIIIIGH.


I think there's way to much fuss over "not really an astronaut" By Nasa's standards they are.
But he still looks like a prat to me.. the way they landed, the cowboy hat.. the stupid astronaut suits that serve no purpose in what he does.. needing a 2 foot stair to be erected get out t
The rich family folk all gathering to welcome back their funder. and family members. It was like a big party of the Uber Rich
And many folks look up to that behavior like he's some kind of god

I find that waaay more irritating then him being called an astronaut or not.
Maybe if he had taken some random joe schuck along with him rather then some other rich kid who won an expensive raffle It would have made more sense to me.
And instead of that uniform.. show some style or character or whatever by going up dressed like a normal person.. maybe cowboy boots and jeans instead of just the hat.
Be properly extravagant ... shorts and hawaii shirt :D

No...hell no.

Pioneers yes, astronauts no

This.

Niel Armstrong and many others piloted an X-15 into space, and got to wear the astronaut symbol on his uniform.

Of course piloting an airplane from the wing of a bomber, into space while powered by a rocket and landing it safely is a bit different than what Blue Horizon did. It is just a ultimate Disney ride. I rode the journey to Mars ride at Disney world, and the ride is amazing, but just a ride.


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1626872516.jpg

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ulTQcLFNiTs" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The value, i would think, is in finding cheaper, more efficient ways into space and eventually to the moon, etc. So long as our tax dollars aren't funding it i think it's great.

Oops, didn't we find out USPS is subsidizing Amazon? Well ****.

Oh and those uniforms are the space tourist version of driving gloves.

Animals made the round trip to "space and back" even before humans.
Astronauts have functionally been passengers from day one.
Some of them have special training for if things go wrong wit hthe ship.
Others are mission specialists, such as a school teacher.
I'm not sure what the fuss is about.

This is awesome on so many levels! :D

Capitalism in its purest form.

Riding the backs of others all the way to space. The irony is enough to choke on.

The flying pencils are impressive though

Who cares, it’s good for everyone.

I think Branson must have know when Bezos was going up and moved his date up to “one up him” as all the graphics for the Blue Origin launch had “ First Human Flight” splashed all over the screen.

Branson did screw up his altimeter tho... missed by quite a distance

I think the guys that piloted the X-15 to get their Astrowings have a jock strap the size of a hammock compared to someone sitting in an automated rocket chair.

The term is correct for anyone that passes the Karman line just as anyone can go pay for a "driving experience" in a race car is a race care driver at the time.

On a related subject, this is pretty cool.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Comparison_satellite_navigation_orbits.svg

Trash talking fun eh?

the condensed version

https://media4.giphy.com/media/a3f0G...giphy.gif&ct=g

https://media1.giphy.com/media/v7VFp...giphy.gif&ct=g

In their minds they are. That's all that matters to them.

They each built their own effn rocketship and blasted towards space. And even returned safely. - childhood fantasy stuff brought to life.

No wonder the Neil Tysons are green with envy... lashing out about sour grapes.

I wonder how long before they have a tourist rocket that gets into orbit and does a few laps around the world before reentry. Lots more complexity and LOTS more energy and speed involved.

No doubt Musk will join the Billionaire space club soon and his rockets can get to the space station.

I saw something on the 'Net where someone commented something like "don't these guys (speaking of Bezos and Branson) realize that most of us hate them and wish them ill?"

I just really don't get that. I wouldn't call them astronauts, but I think what they've done is super cool.

I guess those are the same folks that key a nice car just because.

Yep.

Personally I see it as displaying a lot of confidence in a product to go yourself.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...FC-6100114.jpg

just cuz you cook it in a skillet doesnt make it a flapjack.

they are space travelers..astronauts, seem to be better at physics and stuff :)

Other than the renewed interest in space exploration (which I think is great), I don't really understand all the fuss.

From a strict technological standpoint, any number of private aerospace companies could have achieved the same feat.

So, honest question, other than the controlled return and landing of the rocket, did they do anything that wasn't already achieved by mankind over 50 years ago? Is the achievement simply that it was done privately? If so, that seems pretty insignificant given the number of private contractors involved in Apollo 11.

So what exactly was achieved here other than simply riding the giant beanstalk planted on May 15, 1997?

Perhaps the first two hobbyist astronauts in history.

Thanks, I'm going to steal that.

FIFY


https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51602655
Launching yourself towards space may be one of those things that gets better and more successful, the more money you have. It's just a theory, but....

How could you have forgotten ...


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1626903439.jpg

The original Mercury program astronauts had to fight for a window in the capsules that they were going to "pilot" despite hardly any input beyond holding on for the ride. NASA engineers considered them as live cargo.

Axiom, 10 day trip to the space station. I believe it is scheduled for January.

https://techcrunch.com/2021/05/10/axiom-space-and-nasa-detail-first-fully-private-human-launch-to-the-space-station-set-for-january-2022/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2 xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAA-fLW-VIZeI6R2KZTS_z1iJYQIvNTrZzrIiThxhmP2Cd36kP5dviTAnZ QIEtXj2q4X9_mT6IJlf9DL0okAGyh5C6m0M1NwvcfIZPKHsdhD Gj7cTFG1nk2oYPwj1RrefIIFG83o9Gp1921zpmtt4k8bd_2JjY y-Jq6bY79of9MZh

Axiom in January released the identity of the crew members: Canadian investor Mark Pathy, investor Larry Connor and former Israeli pilot Eytan Stibbe. Leading the crew as mission commander is former NASA astronaut and Axiom Space VP Michael López-Alegría, who has four spaceflights under his belt.

Pathy, Connor and Stibbe will engage in research missions while onboard. Pathy will be collaborating with the Montreal Children’s Hospital and the Canadian Space Agency; Connor, the Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic; and Stibbe will conduct scientific experiments coordinated by the Israel Space Agency at the Ministry of Science and Technology.

“Larry and Mark are very serious individuals who are dedicated to being the best they can be in the mold of a NASA astronaut and they’re not interested in being tourists,” López-Alegría said during the media briefing. “They want to do their part to improve humankind.”

To prepare for the mission, the four crew members will go on a “camping trip” in the Alaskan foothills for training in July, López-Alegría said. He will start full-time training around August, with Larry starting in September. The rest of the crew will start in October, with around two-thirds of their time dedicated to ISS-specific training and the rest dedicated to training with SpaceX. The staggered schedule is due to the differing responsibilities between the crew members while onboard. Axiom will be using the same contractor that NASA uses to train its astronauts.

While Suffredini declined to specify how much the private astronauts paid for their space on the flight, he said he “wouldn’t argue with” widely reported figures in the tens of millions. The Washington Post in January reported that the ticket prices came in at $55 million each.

Prices may not always be so high, but Suffredini said that the industry is likely at least a decade away from serious price drops that might make space travel feasible for the average space-goer

I toured Johnson Space Center in Houston where they had a Mercury capsule. That thing was tiny!

I forgot about Mad Mike. Boy, that landing was a mofo!

https://twitter.com/justindchapman/status/1231336002175717376

If I was rich enough, I'd want to do it too.
Right, crazy how small and cramped it was. They didn't have claustrophobia.
Wow, I hadn't previously seen the video. He basically left his 'chute on the ground at take off. And everyone watching had to know what was coming.

I don't know the whole story, but this is why so many things have backup systems. Clearly, he needed a backup chute unless he had one and had multiple failures.

The good news is he made it back to earth. The bad news is he didn’t live to tell the tale.

Astronaut = star traveler. OK so our legit astronauts never traveled "the stars" but maybe in this age of redefining everyfreakinthing to suit an acute need we need a new title.

How about Suborbital Viator?

"10 day, all inclusive excursion. Views that are out of this world! Only 5.5 million per day!"

Hey! Don't forget Red Bull guy- :)

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/E9oKEJ1pXPw" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>