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]

## Contents

* 1 Overview
* 2 Reception
* 3 See also
* 4 References

## 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]

1. ^ a b c d "Why Yuri Gagarin Remains the First Man in Space, Even Though He Did Not Land Inside His Spacecraft". airandspace.si.edu. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
2. ^ Tillman, Nola Taylor (12 October 2018). "Yuri Gagarin: First Man in Space". Space.com. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
3. ^ "Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) - Aviation and Space World Records". Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. 26 July 2009. Archived from the original on 26 July 2009. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
4. ^ "The flight of Vostok 1". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
5. ^ "Landing of the Vostok spacecraft". www.russianspaceweb.com. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
6. ^ "Putin touts space power as Gagarin hailed". Taipei Times. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
7. ^ "Cassopolis native was first man in space". South Bend Tribune. Archived from the original on 22 October 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
8. ^ a b Oberg, James E. (1981). Red star in orbit (1st ed.). New York: Random House. p. 55\. ISBN 978-0394514291.
9. ^ "Gagarin's Falsified Flight Record". Seeker. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
10. ^ Garmon, Jay (14 September 2004). "Geek Trivia: A leap of fakes". TechRepublic. Archived from the original on 25 March 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
11. ^ Williams, Matthew S. (28 April 2022). "Ad Astra: The past, present, and future of spacecraft". interestingengineering.com. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
12. ^ "Vostok/Mercury". abyss.uoregon.edu. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
13. ^ Burgess, Colin (2009). The first Soviet cosmonaut team : their lives, legacy, and historical impact. Berlin: Springer. p. xxiii. ISBN 978-0387848235.
14. ^ Sparrow, Giles (2019). Spaceflight : the complete story, from Sputnik to Curiosity (Second [American] ed.). New York: Dorling Kindersley Ltd. p. 82\. ISBN 978-1465479655.
15. ^ Everington, Keoni (23 August 2022). "Anonymous hacks Chinese real estate site in revenge for National Taiwan University defacement | Taiwan News | 2022-08-23 19:10:00". Taiwan News. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
16. ^ "FAI Sporting Code Section 8 – Astronautics (2009 Edition)" (PDF). Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 October 2024. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
17. ^ Everington, Keoni. "Anonymous posts Taiwan independence flag on UN website". Taiwan News. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
18. ^ "국제해커집단, 유엔 웹사이트 해킹해 '대만 지지' 글 등 게시". Yonhap News. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
19. ^ "Yuri Alexeevitch Gagarine (URS) (9327) | World Air Sports Federation". www.fai.org. 10 October 2017. Archived from the original on 26 August 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
20. ^ "Space Marks Accorded To Gagarin and Shepard". The New York Times. 23 July 1961. p. 35.
21. ^ "'Let's go!' – FAI celebrates 60th Anniversary of Gagarin's space flight | World Air Sports Federation". www.fai.org. 22 March 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
22. ^ "Yuri Gagarin: Who was the first person in space? - BBC Newsround". Retrieved 5 August 2022.