Last Thursday, the US Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, shared his thoughts. He posted a message on a social media site called X.
He talked about some rules made by the FAA (short for Federal Aviation Administration). According to these rules, to be called an astronaut, a person must help to keep people safe during a flight or show that they can help human space flight safety. Duffy said that the people who went to space with Blue Origin were daring but they’re not astronauts, as per the FAA rules.
That was a very surprising thing for him to say. The FAA had stated that they don’t have any part in deciding if people who fly to space are astronauts. They have clearly mentioned this on their website’s page on space travel.
A little history for you all. The FAA started a program in 2004. It is known as the “Astronaut Wings” program. It was to celebrate the two pilots of SpaceShipOne who flew the craft above 50 miles away from Earth. This program also recognized ordinary people who flew with companies like Virgin Galactic and SpaceX. The people who flew got astronaut wings on this program.
But, in December 2021, the FAA stopped giving these wings. From 2022, they said that they would just list people who go to space over 50 miles away on their website. They will no longer give out Commercial Space Astronaut Wings.
Vocabulary List:
- Astronaut /ˈæs.trə.nɔːt/ (noun): A person trained to travel in a spacecraft.
- Regulations /ˌrɛɡjʊˈleɪʃənz/ (noun): Rules or directives made and maintained by an authority.
- Daring /ˈdɛrɪŋ/ (adjective): Adventurous; bold; willing to take risks.
- Program /ˈprəʊ.ɡræm/ (noun): A planned series of events or activities.
- Recognized /ˈrɛkəɡnaɪzd/ (verb): Identified or acknowledged as having a particular status or value.
- Commercial /kəˈmɜːrʃəl/ (adjective): Related to or engaged in commerce; business-related.
How much do you know?
