rjnoe@riccb.UUCP (Roger J. Noe) (01/16/86)
> So just how far does one have to go to reach 'space'? > -- > E. Michael Smith ...!{hplabs,ihnp4,amd,nsc}!amdahl!ems Many pilots unofficially recognized 50 (statute) miles as the beginning of space, i.e. beyond the atmosphere. This would make a number of X-15 missions space flights. A more common recognition today is an altitude of 100 km (about 62 statute miles). Still some of the X-15 flights were above this mark. There is no universally accepted definition since there is no real boundary to cross to get to space. -- Roger Noe ihnp4!riccb!rjnoe
mink@cfa.UUCP (Doug Mink) (01/17/86)
> Many pilots unofficially recognized 50 (statute) miles as the beginning of > space, i.e. beyond the atmosphere. This would make a number of X-15 missions > space flights. A more common recognition today is an altitude of 100 km > (about 62 statute miles). Still some of the X-15 flights were above this > mark. There is no universally accepted definition since there is no real > boundary to cross to get to space. > Roger Noe In the early 60's, an altitude of 50 miles was recognized as the beginning of space for the purpose of earning Astronaut wings, which I believe were awarded to several X-15 pilots as well as to Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo astronauts. -- Doug Mink
kwan@smeagol.UUCP (Richard Kwan) (01/18/86)
> > So just how far does one have to go to reach 'space'? > > -- > > E. Michael Smith ...!{hplabs,ihnp4,amd,nsc}!amdahl!ems > > Many pilots unofficially recognized 50 (statute) miles as the beginning of > space, i.e. beyond the atmosphere. This would make a number of X-15 missions > space flights. A more common recognition today is an altitude of 100 km > (about 62 statute miles). Still some of the X-15 flights were above this > mark... > -- > Roger Noe ihnp4!riccb!rjnoe Like various manned spacecraft, the X-15 required attitude control jets to maneuver in a rarified atmosphere (or is it space?). It also had to tolerate a hot re-entry. This much it has in common with Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and the shuttle orbiter. Rick Kwan JPL Spacecraft Data Systems group
patc@tekcrl.UUCP (Pat Caudill) (01/20/86)
In article <173@cfa.UUCP> mink@cfa.UUCP (Doug Mink) writes: > >In the early 60's, an altitude of 50 miles was recognized as the >beginning of space for the purpose of earning Astronaut wings, which I >believe were awarded to several X-15 pilots as well as to Mercury, Tom Wolf tells a funny story about this in "The Right Stuff". Apparently only military pilots (of the X-15) could get astronaut wings for going over 50miles. The civilian test pilot who first acheived this distinction was turned down, but the other test pilots took him down to Pancho's bar and after due ceremony awarded him a large pair of gold paper wings with "ASSTRONAUT" written on them. tektronix!tekcrl!patc
doug@escher.UUCP (Douglas J Freyburger) (01/26/86)
> > Many pilots unofficially recognized 50 (statute) miles as the beginning of > > space, i.e. beyond the atmosphere. This would make a number of X-15 > > missions space flights... > In the early 60's, an altitude of 50 miles was recognized as the > beginning of space for the purpose of earning Astronaut wings, which I > believe were awarded to several X-15 pilots as well as to Mercury, > Gemini, and Apollo astronauts. Not only were some of the .X-15 pilots awarded Astronaut wings, but the SR-71 pilots wear Air Force Astronaut wings. The service ceiling of the SR-71 is classified, so this might only answer how high the Air Force considers space to be to the few cleared to know about the Blackbird in detail. Neil Armstrong got his astronaut wings in the X-15 before he transfered to the candlestick rockets. -- Doug Freyburger DOUG@JPL-ROBOTICS, DOUG@JPL-VLSI, JPL Mail Stop 23 escher!doug, escher!teleop!doug Pasadena, CA 91109 etc. Disclaimers: My opinions are not those of JPL, Caltech, NASA, etc. Apologies to companies I'm forgetting to quote as trademark holders. Net site JPL-ROBOTICS has its net link down lately, so no mail gets though.