I would go a step further and even reduce the pilot and crew to just pilot and crew. To me the term astronaut has always included the meaning of explorer. Once this becomes routine the term astronaut just doesn't apply to any of them. The pilots will form unions, the stewardesses will go on strike, you'll get peanuts or pretzels... Siegfried ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chuck Hards" <chuckhards@yahoo.com> To: "Utah-Astro" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Thursday, October 28, 2004 4:18 PM Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Rutan's "astronauts"
To counter Burt Rutan yet again, I think the term "astronaut" should be reserved for pilots, crew, and PAID professional employees.
Those who are purely paying passengers should be called "space travellers" or something similar.
Otherwise the title becomes diluted and loses any prestige pretty much immediatlely. After all, Michael Jackson could buy a seat for his favorite chimp; would the chimp then be an astronaut? Come on, reality check time. Is the term going to be "awarded" to anyone with the bucks to buy a ticket?
I think Rutan is counting on the title for all passengers as a marketing tool. Cheap shot. Really cheap. If that's the case, the term now carries no cachet or prestige at all, in fact it's the replacement word for "payload".
Space Race 2: Flying High Beyond The Sky
The mission now for Burt Rutan's team is to create 3,000 new astronauts a year, beginning in four or five years.
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