The recent all-women spaceflight carried out on Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin vehicle has raised discussion of who gets to be called an astronaut. Sean Duffy, Donald Trump’s transportation secretary, disputed the astronaut title given to those on the flight, including singer Katy Perry and journalist Gayle King.
The term astronaut was only rarely disputed until the first “celebrity” suborbital flight in 2021. In the 1960s, pilots flying the experimental, rocket-powered X-15 jet were awarded astronaut status by the US Air Force if they flew above 50 miles (80km).
