The first ‘astronauts’ were “spam in a can.” Yuri Garagin didn’t have any controls in his craft, nor did the first few American astronauts. An ‘astronaut’ is anyone who has gone more than 60 miles up. And yes, if you have been in an airplane you can call yourself a ‘flier.’
The first ‘astronauts’ were “spam in a can.” Yuri Garagin didn’t have any controls in his craft, nor did the first few American astronauts. An ‘astronaut’ is anyone who has gone more than 60 miles up. And yes, if you have been in an airplane you can call yourself a ‘flier.’
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What’s the actual difference? Any history book will confirm that Gagarin had as much control of his craft as Katy Perry or Enos the chimp did.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_X-15
The pilots of the X-15 flew into space and landed their craft.
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No, he wasn’t, because there were no controls for him to use.
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TIL.
None of that changes the fact that the original definition of ‘astronaut’ was anyone who traveled into space [60 miles up] as a pilot or passenger.