Well, maybe this isn’t the right board for this, but I’m damned if I know which one is correct. So if it’s not, please, Mr Moderator, take pity on the poor newbie and move the thread without eviscerating me in the process.
I know that a good number of dopers here have been on jeopardy. For some un-knowable reason, this caused me to wonder: are than any participants on these boards who have been involved in a space program in an astronaut/cosmonaut role? I’m doubtful there are, but I’m curious.
Also, a general question: How many people have been in orbit/space?
I haven’t been in space, but I’ve co-authored two articles with Ron McNair, who made one successful Shuttle trip. Tragically, he was on his second shuttle trip on the Challenger the morning the O-ring froze, causing it to blow up. You always hear about school teacher Christa MacAuliffe on that flight, but rarely about the others.
I would add a few names to that CBS list, although at some point you have to ask exactly what criteria you’re using for the term “fly in space”. During the X-15 research program, eight pilots flew to an altitude of greater than 50 miles. The military uses that as the standard, and the five Air Force pilots (the other three were civilians working for NASA) were awarded astronaut wings.
One of the eight, Joseph Engle, was picked as one of the fifth group of NASA astronauts and flew two missions on the shuttle. So the number’s up to 437, depending on how you look at it.
Quite right, RA. I thought about mentioning that, but was too lazy to go looking up that info as well.
If you go by the USAF definition of space (50 miles), there would would be seven additional astronauts. If you go by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale’s definition (100 kilometers) there would only be one additional astronaut: Joe Walker. If only considering people who’ve actually orbited the earth, none of them count.
