Spaceflight participant

Spaceflight participant (Russian: участник космического полета, romanizeduchastnik kosmicheskogo polyota) is the term used by NASA,[1] Roscosmos,[2] and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)[3] for people who travel into space, but are not professional astronauts.[1]

While the term gained new prominence with the rise of space tourism, it has also been used for participants in programs like NASA's Teacher in Space and astronauts designated by inter-government agreements like the Angkasawan program and the Korean Astronaut Program.

Other terms used for space travelers who are not career astronauts include NASA's Payload Specialist and the RKA's Researcher-Cosmonaut.

Background

The Soviet Interkosmos program included participants selected from Warsaw Pact members and later from allies of the USSR and non-aligned countries. Most of these people received full training for their missions and were treated as equals, but especially after the Mir program began, were generally given shorter flights than Soviet cosmonauts. The European Space Agency took advantage of the program as well.

The United States Space Shuttle program included Payload Specialist positions which were usually filled by representatives of companies or institutions managing a specific payload on that mission. These individuals did not receive the same level of training as the NASA Astronaut Corps and were private astronauts.

In the early days of the Shuttle program, NASA was also eager to prove its capability to Congressional sponsors, and Senator Jake Garn and Representative Bill Nelson were both given opportunities to fly on a Shuttle mission.

The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 stated that NASA should provide the "widest practicable and appropriate dissemination of information concerning its activities and the results thereof". The Naugle panel of 1982 concluded that carrying civilians—those not NASA astronauts—on the shuttle was part of "the purpose of adding to the public's understanding of space flight".[4] As the Shuttle program expanded, NASA developed the Space Flight Participant Program, where civilians, with an emphasis on creative people, would be sent into space to increase public awareness of NASA's mission. The initial goal was that two or three shuttle missions a year would include a civilian participant.[5] The agency hoped that potential passengers such as Walter Cronkite and James Michener could "communicate" space to the public.[4] The first would be the Teacher in Space Project, which would combine publicity and educational opportunities for NASA. Christa McAuliffe would have been the first Teacher in Space, but she was killed in the Challenger disaster and the program was canceled. At the time of the Challenger disaster, NASA was planning to include a Journalist in Space on a mission scheduled to launch in September 1986. The program continued briefly, with the initial candidate pool being narrowed to 100 in March and 40 in April before being postponed indefinitely in July.[6][7] Walter Cronkite and Miles O'Brien were considered front-runners.[8][9][10]

With the realities of the post-perestroika economy in Russia, its space industry was especially starved for cash. The Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) offered to pay for one of its reporters to fly on a mission. For $28 million, Toyohiro Akiyama, was flown in 1990 to Mir with the eighth crew and returned a week later with the seventh crew. Akiyama gave a daily television broadcast from orbit and also performed scientific experiments for Russian and Japanese companies.

Since then, the Russian Federal Space Agency has also sold seats to a consortium of British companies for Project Juno, to seven self-funded space tourists, to the Malaysian government as part of a contract to sell military planes, and to the South Korean government as part of the Korean Astronaut Program.

List of spaceflight participants

This list excludes Axiom Space tourists listed at List of Axiom Space Missions.

The first eight space tourism trips went to and from the International Space Station on Soyuz spacecraft and were arranged through the space tourism company, Space Adventures.[28]

Other missions

While not labeled as "spaceflight participants", the following people participated in NASA or Roscosmos spaceflight missions under the auspices of special programs outside the professional astronaut corps.

Private employers

People who flew into space as private sector employees - they were not necessarily considered spaceflight participants in their flights:[33]

Name[34] Missions Time in space Company Refs.
United States Charles Walker United States STS-41-D
United States STS-51-D
United States STS-61-B
19d 21h 56m MDAC [35]
United States Robert Cenker United States STS-61-C 6d 02h 03m RCA [36]
United States Gregory Jarvis United States STS-51-L Died at launch. HACES [37]
Japan Toyohiro Akiyama Soviet Union Soyuz TM-11 7d 21h 54m TBS [38][39]
United Kingdom Helen Sharman Soviet Union Soyuz TM-12 7d 21h 13m MNB [40]
Russia Klim Shipenko Russia Soyuz MS-19 11d 19h 40m PERVK [41]
Russia Yulia Peresild [42]

Notes

1.^ Not always the case, since Marcos Pontes, trained in the NASA Group 17, was a spaceflight participant in the Soyuz TMA-8.

See also

References

  1. ^ Ladwig, Alan (October 1, 1985). "The Space Flight Participant Program - Taking the teacher and classroom into space". NASA Technical Reports Server. NASA. Retrieved July 10, 2015. document ID no. 19860031168.
  2. ^ a b "У основного экипажа МКС-66 начались совместные тренировки" (in Russian). 2021-07-23. Retrieved 2021-07-23.
  3. ^ FAA regulations, Commercial Space Transportation, 14 CFR 14/part- § 401.5
  4. ^ a b Pincus, Walter (1986-03-05). "NASA's Push to Put Citizen in Space Overtook Fully 'Operational' Shuttle". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
  5. ^ "The Space Flight Participant Program - Taking the teacher and classroom into space". NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS). NASA. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  6. ^ "Journalist in space candidates narrowed". Google News. Times Daily. 29 April 1986. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  7. ^ "Journalist-in-space program on hold". UPI.com. UPI. 15 July 1986. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  8. ^ Roger Rosenblatt (2001-06-24). "A Realm Where Age Doesn't Count". Time Magazine / CNN. Archived from the original on January 4, 2008. Retrieved September 12, 2007.
  9. ^ "May fly sometime". Space Today Online. 2005. Retrieved September 12, 2007.
  10. ^ "Candidates for the "Journalist in Space Program"". Space Facts. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  11. ^ "Astronauta realiza o sonho de milhares de brasileiros" (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2001-02-10. Archived from the original on 2020-08-08. Retrieved 2021-03-17.
  12. ^ "Brazil's President In Moscow Signs Deal For Joint Space Mission". Oct 18, 2005. Archived from the original on April 15, 2019. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  13. ^ Tariq Malik (2008). "'Thrillionaire' Signs on as Backup Space Tourist". SPACE.com. Archived from the original on February 2, 2008. Retrieved January 28, 2008.
  14. ^ ap.google.com, US game designer blasts into space with DNA cargo Archived October 16, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ "U.S. Billionaire to Make Second Private Spaceflight". Archived from the original on October 5, 2008. Retrieved September 30, 2008.
  16. ^ "Acrobat to Be Next Space Tourist". Archived from the original on June 13, 2009. Retrieved June 4, 2009.
  17. ^ "Жена главы компании Intel готовится стать космонавтом" (in Russian). Archived from the original on February 14, 2012. Retrieved June 8, 2009.
  18. ^ Ugalde, Victoria (2019-08-29). "United Arab Emirates spaceflight participant Hazzaa Ali Almansoori". NASA. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
  19. ^ a b "Actress and moon-bound billionaire to film on space station missions". 2021-05-13. Retrieved 2021-07-23.
  20. ^ "Spaceflight mission report: Soyuz MS-19". 2021-05-25. Retrieved 2021-07-23.
  21. ^ @spaceadventures (May 13, 2021). "Yusaku Maezawa purchased two seats on the #Soyuz spacecraft from Space Adventures. He and his assistant, Yozo Hirano, completed their spaceflight training in Russia next month after passing the required medical examinations. @yousuckMZ
    @Roscosmos
    #spaceflight"
    (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  22. ^ Pearlmanpublished, Robert Z. (2024-03-23). "Flight attendant becomes 1st Belarusian in space on ISS-bound Soyuz launch". Space.com. Retrieved 2024-03-23.
  23. ^ "Payload Specialist Astronauts". Jsc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
  24. ^ "Soyuz 44 Crew Profiles". www.nasa.gov. 2015-02-09. Retrieved 2015-03-07.
  25. ^ "Space Adventures Announces that Satoshi Takamatsu Will Begin Orbital Spaceflight Training in Star City, Russia". Space Adventures, Ltd. 2015-01-07. Retrieved 2015-05-01.
  26. ^ Jeff Foust (22 June 2015). "Kazakh Cosmonaut To Take Brightman's Place On Soyuz Flight". Space News.
  27. ^ "Kazakh Cosmonaut May Fly To Space Station Next Year". Via Satellite. November 17, 2008. Retrieved April 16, 2023.
  28. ^ Kevin Bonsor (2007). "How Space Tourism Works". HowStuffWorks, Inc. Retrieved 2007-10-28.
  29. ^ "ORAL HISTORY 2 TRANSCRIPT : ROBERT E. STEVENSON INTERVIEWED BY CAROL BUTLER : HOUSTON, TEXAS – 13 MAY 1999" (PDF). Jsc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
  30. ^ "61-C". Science.ksc.nasa.gov. Archived from the original on 2009-03-30. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
  31. ^ "Astronaut Biography: Edward Aldridge". Spacefacts.de. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
  32. ^ "1991: Sharman becomes first Briton in space". BBC News. 1991-05-18. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  33. ^ "Jonathan's Space Report | Human Spaceflight: Rides". Retrieved 2021-10-12.
  34. ^ "List of rides". 2021-10-12. Retrieved 2021-10-12.
  35. ^ "Astronaut Biography: Charles Walker". 2018-08-24. Retrieved 2021-10-12.
  36. ^ "Astronaut Biography: Robert Cenker". 2018-08-24. Retrieved 2021-10-12.
  37. ^ "Astronaut Biography: Gregory Jarvis". 2018-04-18. Retrieved 2021-10-12.
  38. ^ "Cosmonaut Biography: Toyohiro Akiyama". 2018-04-20. Retrieved 2021-10-12.
  39. ^ Anatoly Zak (2015-06-27). "Soyuz TM-11: First journalist in space". Archived from the original on 2020-06-07. Retrieved 2021-10-12.
  40. ^ "Cosmonaut Biography: Helen Sharman". 2018-04-20. Retrieved 2021-10-12.
  41. ^ "Tourist Biography: Klim Shipenko". 2021-10-17. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
  42. ^ "Tourist Biography: Yulia Peresild". 2021-10-17. Retrieved 2021-10-17.