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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Chuck, maybe it was a typo. Maybe they meant "Astro-not"... ;) Quoting Chuck Hards <chuckhards@yahoo.com>:
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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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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Chuck, is it true that when Andy Rooney retires from 60 Minutes you'll be taking his place as curmudgeon-in-chief? :-) Chuck Hards wrote:
To counter Burt Rutan yet again, I think the term "astronaut" should be reserved for pilots, crew, and PAID professional employees.
Looks like the dictionaries can not agree. The Yahoo dictionary defines astronaut as: "A person trained to pilot, navigate, or otherwise participate as a crew member of a spacecraft." But Websters defines it as: "A person who travels beyond Earth's atmosphere." I was amused to see that the dictionary I've kept in my various desks over the past 30+ years does not list astronaut. Makes me feel even older than I am... :-)
After all, Michael Jackson could buy a seat for his favorite chimp; would the chimp then be an astronaut? Or maybe Ape-O-Naut ( http://www.ape-o-naut.org/famous/famous/reallife.html )?
Patrick
--- Patrick Wiggins <paw@trilobyte.net> wrote:
Chuck, is it true that when Andy Rooney retires from 60 Minutes you'll be taking his place as curmudgeon-in-chief? :-)
Hey, have the show call me and we can most definitely talk! I'm as canktankerous as the next guy. But I'm probably not skeptical enough and I could certainly be more cynical.
Or maybe Ape-O-Naut (
http://www.ape-o-naut.org/famous/famous/reallife.html
)?
No, all of the Ape-O-Nauts were 1: Professional, government or military employees, and 2: explorers (thanks, Ziggy, you nailed it!) so they legitimately deserve the title. But it's bad news for the NeverLand residents. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Address AutoComplete - You start. We finish. http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail
participants (4)
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Chuck Hards -
diveboss＠xmission.com -
Patrick Wiggins -
Siegfried Jachmann