FAI definition of human spaceflight

The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) defines a human spaceflight mission as crewed flights that occur above the Kármán line (100km). However, its past definitions and rules regarding human spaceflight required the presence of pilot in spacecraft during landing in order for its spaceflight record to be validated, which has been subjected to controversies.^[1][2]

Overview[edit | edit source]

In April 12th, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space through the Vostok 1 mission which orbited Earth for 108 minutes.^[3] During reentry and landing, Gagarin ejected out of his spacecraft and landed separately with his spacecraft at 26 km (16 mi) south west of Engels, in the Saratov region at 51°N 45°E.^[4][5] A farmer and her granddaughter, Rita Nurskanova, observed Gagarin's descent and the former assisted him in the unfastening of his helmet.^[6]

At that time, Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) required that spacecraft pilots should land inside their craft in order for their records to be validated, which is a carry-over from aviation out of the belief that in the latter case, pilots are not encouraged to sacrifice themselves for an aviation record.^[1] Prior to Vostok 1, American pilot Iven Kincheloe's Bell X-2 flight was described by some sources such as the South Bend Tribune as the first crewed spaceflight, reaching an altitude of 126,200 feet although falling short of the Karman Line (100km).^[7]

Due to the discrepancy, Soviet officials omitted the fact about the landing phase of Vostok 1 in order to qualify for FAI's space records. However, following the Vostok 2 mission which Soviet cosmonaut Gherman Titov became the first person to spend a day in orbit, it was made known that Titov had landed while outside the capsule.^[1]

Space journalist James Oberg reported that during a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) conference in Paris, France, the director-general of the body confronted Soviet officials with questions regarding the location of the pilot during landing in relation to the spacecraft while demanding documentation that verifies Gagarin's presence in the space capsule during landing. In response, the Soviet representative denounced such requirements as "obstructionism" and protested that “Ask the Americans if the U.S.A. believes that these records claimed for Gagarin were actually made. All the people of the world have already endorsed Gagarin’s flight and have accepted it as fact." FAI eventually conceded and certified Soviet's historical account that Gagarin had been inside the capsule during landing.^[8]

Unlike Titov's, factual information about the landing of Vostok 1 weren't made known until 1971, which was described in detail by a book published by Soviet space correspondent Evgeny Riabchikov.^[8][9] Due to the technicality, some newer sources such as Tech Republic speculated that Gagarin did not “legally” complete a piloted spaceflight according to FAI's guidelines.^[10] Furthermore, taking account of the fact that pilot ejections occurred before landing in all manned Vostok missions, pragmatist arguments posited that Gagarin, while is the first person to fly into space, cannot be deemed to be the first person to actually complete an orbit around Earth. Instead, according to the line of reasoning, John Glenn's Friendship 7 mission by NASA qualified for such under the auspices of then FAI rules.^[11][12][13]

An encyclopedia titled Spaceflight: the complete story, from Sputnik to Curiosity that was published by Dorling Kindersley Limited in 2019 opined that the US were "actually ahead" of the Soviets in terms of the Space Race during or following the flight of Freedom 7, as the mission's astronaut Alan Shepard was the first person to return from space aboard his spacecraft.^[14]

On August 2022, according to Taiwan News, the hacking collective Anonymous defaced a Chinese real estate website and mentioned the stipulation within Section 8, paragraph 2.15, item b of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) sporting code that a flight is deemed to be uncompleted if "any member of the crew definitively leaves the spacecraft during flight", the latter having happened at Vostok 1 as its pilot had ejected from his capsule before it landed. Anonymous reportedly even asserted that because other Vostok spaceflights followed this practice, Alan Shepard and John Glenn, who were both inside their capsules when they splashed down, should be considered the first humans in space.^[15][16] Furthermore Anonymous went on to disseminate the controversy in their hack of the United Nations Event Proposal Tool website.^[17][18]

Reception[edit | edit source]

The parameters of human spaceflight were modified to recognize that the technological accomplishment with regards to crewed spaceflight, was the launch, orbiting and safe return of the human, instead of the manner in which they landed. Gagarin and Titov’s FAI records, the former including specifically that of duration in orbital flight—108 minutes, greatest altitude in earth orbital flight by a single person spacecraft (which remains standing as of August 2022)—327 kilometres (203 mi),^[19] and the greatest mass lifted in earth orbital flight—4,725 kilograms (10,417 lb)^[20], remained intact while the sports body itself created the Gagarin Medal which is awarded annually to honor greatest achievements in the field of human spaceflight. Gagarin is internationally recognized as the first human to fly in space and first to orbit the Earth. ^[1][21][22]

See also[edit | edit source]

• Claims to the first powered flight

• Controversy over the discovery of Haumea

• Historical revisionism

• IAU definition of planet

References[edit | edit source]