"In order to maintain the prestige of Commercial Space Astronaut Wings," the agency adds, "the FAA may further refine the eligibility requirements at any time as it deems appropriate." In short, just because you can afford a ticket on a space tourism flight, don't assume you will automatically qualify as an astronaut.Join us for one of our all time favorite events, the Stay iLL Low Car Limbo Competition!! Watch to see some of the lowest cars in the Midwest compete for a $500 first place cash prize by being the lowest of the low!! Also enjoy a car meet, live DJs, industry vendors, and stop into the LifeZone360 venue for food, drinks, games, and so much more!!ĭon't miss the competition and enjoy the Car Meet in the parking lot! All attending, even to spectate ,must have a GA ticket to enjoy the car meet and limbo. The FAA is upfront about its goal with the program, and the changes it makes. Whether the FAA will make use of that for this month's twin launches remains to be seen: it could decide both Bezos and Branson deserve the plaudit based on their overall contributions to commercial space flight, though not being able to guarantee the same thing to future paying passengers could dampen the sales pitch. The FAA has a loophole for honorary awards, for "individuals whose contribution to commercial human space flight merits special recognition." If the Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation (AST-1) at the agency decides someone has "demonstrated extraordinary contribution or beneficial service to the commercial human space flight industry" then they can be granted a set of Astronaut Wings, even if they don't meet all the other official criteria. There's some room for negotiation, nonetheless. Nonetheless, it's not hard to imagine that joining the illustrious – and relatively short – list of official astronauts would be at least part of the draw for those coughing up hundreds of thousands of dollars (or more) for a ticket onboard a Blue Origin or Virgin Atlantic spacecraft.
CAR LIMBO RULES FREE
You don't get a star named after you, or unlimited free wings at the fried chicken restaurant of your choice. To be clear, there's no advantage to being granted a set of FAA Astronaut Wings beyond the inherent kudos. New Shepard's flight was all controlled autonomously, rather than by a pilot onboard the spacecraft, effectively meaning Bezos and the others onboard – including Wally Funk and an 18-year-old last-minute substitution – were certainly passengers rather than what we might think of as crew. Ironically, though Blue Origin and Jeff Bezos flew higher than Virgin Galactic and Richard Branson did, their argument may actually be weaker. While both the Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin flights went above the FAA's 50 mile mark, the FAA will have to decide whether or not they demonstrated any activity that was essential to public safety or human space flight safety. Figuring out exactly what qualifies under those rules appears to have been left intentionally vague, giving the FAA some wriggle-room in how it decides who gets their wings and who doesn't.
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