One of the most talked about news this July has been Jeff Bezos’ trip as an astronaut to space aboard the ‘New Shepard’ spacecraft. The former Amazon adviser reached the 106 kilometers high accompanied by his brother, Mark Bezos, an 82-year-old pilot, Wally Funk, and an 18-year-old student, Oliver Daemen.
Unlike Richard Branson’s space flight , Jeff Bezos’s did exceed the Kárman line, located 100 kilometers above sea level and considered the frontier of space.
Therefore, we might think that Jeff Bezos is an astronaut because he has traveled to space, but no. The US Federal Aviation Administration has tightened the requirements for someone to be considered as such, and the tycoon is out of the game.
How was Jeff Bezos’ trip to space?
First of all, we are going to remember how was the trip of the former Amazon advisor. He traveled into space accompanied by the other three crew members aboard the ‘New Shepard’ spacecraft, built by his own company, ‘Blue Origin’. The journey lasted 11 minutes at a speed of 3,700 kilometers per hour .
The ship had a completely autonomous system , so it didn’t need anyone to pilot it because the on-board computers did all the work. Furthermore, in the event of an emergency, the crew capsule could be detached from the booster rocket and returned to planet Earth.
What are the requirements of the United States Federal Aviation Administration to be an astronaut?
The FAA wants to distinguish space explorers from those who are not. Therefore, to be considered an astronaut it is not enough to exceed 80 kilometers in height , but it is essential to carry out “activities during the flight that were essential for public safety or contributed to the safety of manned space flights .”
Therefore, although Jeff Bezos did reach 106 kilometers high on July 20, he did not do any activity on board since the ship was controlled from Earth and its trip was 100% automatic.
Thus, based on the new rules of the game, Jeff Bezos is not an astronaut . Now, there is some confusion about it since the US FAA published these requirements on July 20, the same day that the billionaire traveled into space.
To date, the US Federal Aviation Administration has awarded wings to four pilots from ‘Virgin Galactic’, Richard Branson’s space company, and Beth Moses, an astronaut organization.
