After the loss of Challenger, NASA resumed production of Endeavour in September 1987. Construction of OV-105, later named Endeavour, began in February 1982, but NASA decided to limit the Space Shuttle fleet to four orbiters in 1983. On January 29, 1979, NASA ordered two additional orbiters, OV-103 and OV-104, which were named Discovery and Atlantis. Later that month, Rockwell began converting STA-099 to OV-099, later named Challenger. On January 5, 1979, NASA commissioned a second orbiter. The original plan was for a large fleet of shuttles to support a very high mission flight rate, but according to Wikipedia, by 1983, the plan was to hold the fleet at four orbiters (not counting Enterprise, which was not spaceworthy): The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.I think Sagan was being optimistic. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at for further information. And they joined the very elite list of fewer than 600 others who get to say they did that.įor NPR News, I'm Brendan Byrne in Orlando.Ĭopyright © 2021 NPR. REISMAN: Who cares (laughter)? You know, they're still getting to go into space on a rocket, look it out, seeing the Earth out that incredible window.īYRNE: No matter what you call them, these four people went to space. But does the term even matter? Not according to retired NASA astronaut Reisman.

So absolutely, in my opinion, by all means, they are astronauts.īYRNE: The fact remains that defining astronaut is still up for debate, especially as more civilians go to space as tourists. He's the chief scientist of the Translational Research Institute for Space Health, which is supporting the medical experiments on the mission.ĮMMANUEL URQUIETA: They are really participating not only as just enjoying the ride, but really making sure that their flight is worth for humankind and for the spaceflight community. But they are contributing to public health, says Dr. LAURA FORCZYK: So the FAA's definition is different from how we typically use the term of, loosely speaking, anybody who goes to space.īYRNE: The FAA says SpaceX has designated the four individuals traveling on Inspiration4 as spaceflight participants, not crew, meaning they're not eligible for commercial space astronaut wings. It now requires the crew must perform an activity essential to public safety or contribute to human space flight safety. As tourism flights began ramping up this summer, the FAA reclassified its definition of commercial astronauts. It's a commercial spaceflight, which falls under the purview of the Federal Aviation Administration. They were trained and had the same responsibilities to operate that vehicle that really any of the NASA crews that have gone up to the International Space Station had to do.īYRNE: But this isn't a NASA mission. REISMAN: I think you could call them astronauts. They flew fighter jets and went through high G-force training.

They trained for six months at SpaceX's headquarters in California. The Inspiration4 crew aren't NASA astronauts, but they flew higher and spent longer in space than Glenn did on that flight. He was the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962.

squeezes into his spacesuit.īYRNE: One of the most well-known astronauts is John Glenn. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Five hours before he is destined to take a giant stride into history, Colonel John H. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: These, ladies and gentlemen, are the nation's Mercury astronauts.īYRNE: They might have the name astronaut, but in order for them to earn their wings or what's called an astronaut badge, they need to fly higher than 50 miles above the Earth. NASA considers anyone training for a mission in the agency an astronaut. He flew on three shuttle missions, lived on the International Space Station, went on spacewalks, racking up 107 days in orbit before retiring from NASA. It's not simple.īYRNE: Garrett Reisman is an astronaut. So are they astronauts? It sounds like an easy question, but it's hard to answer. But are these people astronauts any more than BJ Leiderman, who does our theme music? Brendan Byrne of member station WMFE found there's not a clear answer.īRENDAN BYRNE, BYLINE: The crew of four launched on a SpaceX rocket, spent time in orbit and conducted science experiments while in space. Inspiration4, the first-ever all-civilian crew to go into orbit, is set to splashdown off Florida later today after spending three days in space - orbit, space, splashdown - the right stuff.

Nasa space shuttle names list