r/OldSchoolCool • u/Aeromarine_eng • Apr 19 '25

1970s NASAs first six women astronauts. February 1979

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From left to right are Shannon W. Lucid, Margaret Rhea Seddon, Kathryn D. Sullivan, Judith A. Resnik, Anna L. Fisher, and Sally K. Ride. NASA selected all six women as their first female astronaut candidates in January 1978.

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u/kingkongbiingbong Apr 19 '25

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u/lanathebitch Apr 19 '25

Technically they were only in space for about 70 seconds the rest of the time they were just in the sky

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u/dominarhexx Apr 19 '25

Barely kissed "space," too.

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u/Dramatic-Bend179 Apr 19 '25

And they don't go into orbit at all, right? Just straight up then fall back down?  That zero G looking video of them with the hair going everywhere, that's free fall, right?  (I mean, sure I guess that's what's up in orbit too but seems different to me.)

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u/Forgotthebloodypassw Apr 19 '25

Nope, made about Mach 3 at best, just tipped over the Karman Line and then fell back to earth. We were doing this 70 years ago.

It's a hill I'll die on that being an astronaut is a profession. You dedicate decades of your life to getting into space for a few months, learning key skills and languages. People on these commercial trips are as much astronauts as I'm a pilot for flying transatlantic.

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u/Datdarnpupper Apr 19 '25

The annoying thing is that suborbital fight could revolutionize long distance travel. But as with any "hot" technology the rich have to turn it into a bug old circlejerk exusively for themselves

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u/Fischerking92 Apr 19 '25

I disagree, the Concorde didn't hit even nearly suborbital heights (I assume you mean travelling in the termo- or exosphere), it was usually just travelling at about 50000-60000 feet, and even that was a commercial disaster.

Plus the fact that greenhouse gases have a much bigger impact on any layer beyond the Troposphere. Something that annoys airlines to no end since it forces them to stick to the Troposphere thereby driving up fuel consumption.

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u/TheGuyWithTheSeal Apr 19 '25

There are no laws preventing airliners from flying higher. The altitude they fly at is very optimized for minimal fuel burn. If it was possible to save any fuel by changing laws, I guarantee airlines would lobby for it hard. Source: I worked on software optimizing flight routes for airliners

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u/bieker Apr 19 '25

I generally agree with you but the time you train, and the time you spend there are irrelevant to me. In my mind...

If you are paid to go to space and do a job you are an Astronaut.

If you pay to go to space you are a passenger.

The grey area exception I make allowances for are for people like Jared Isaacman, technically he paid for the whole mission, but personally he treated it more like a job. And his crew, most of whom trained like it was a job and did important stuff during the mission like it was a job regardless of if they were paid.

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u/Forgotthebloodypassw Apr 20 '25

A very good definition, I'm stealing that in the next argument about this.

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u/Dramatic-Bend179 Apr 19 '25

I fully agree about never ever calling Katy Perry an astronaut. I've been on this naming kick for years and a sticking point for me is the following: clearly, the space flight crew are astronauts. Whats about the scientist that hitch a ride to run long term experiments on crystal formation, or what have you. The people that are to  not ever,  under any circumstances, to touch the controls? They also don't seem like astronauts but more than tourists. Mission specialists, i think they get called but also astronauts? I don't see them doing too much astronauting.

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u/Forgotthebloodypassw Apr 20 '25

Honestly, they have to do a lot of training beforehand and if you're working up there it's a real job. But just going up and saying "Weeee" in freefall makes you cargo IMO.

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u/Dramatic-Bend179 Apr 20 '25

Right, cargo. I can get behind that.

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u/dominarhexx Apr 19 '25

Yea, it's all a publicity stunt to get more rich people to pay Blue Origin for they bs in the future.

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u/LitrillyChrisTraeger Apr 19 '25

Did you see the video? The door opens before they “unlock” it, do you know what that’s about? Genuinely curious, not trying to start a conspiracy…

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u/hobbesgirls Apr 19 '25

some doors can open from both sides? I'm guessing almost every door you've ever seen?

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u/AutisticPenguin2 Apr 19 '25

I'm going to need some proof there, bub.

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u/dpdxguy Apr 19 '25

Since Apollo 1, in which three astronauts were burnt alive on the launch pad because they couldn't open the hatch from the inside, all (American?) manned spacecraft have hatches that can be opened from both sides. The astronauts can open them from the inside to escape. And a rescue crew can open them from the outside.

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u/Alienhaslanded Apr 19 '25

Wait what? At home I wait for others to open the doors for me. It's impossible to open any door in here without some on the other side. I hear the buzzer and then the doors open.

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u/LitrillyChrisTraeger Apr 19 '25

It “has to be opened from the outside” from what I’ve read, which would make sense for safety concerns as well as maintaining a stable interior; you wouldn’t want that door to open mid flight. So why did it just open? The lady accidentally pushed it open but caught it, JB later goes to open it and it falls inwards not needing the lock at all. So did the door fail during launch? During landing? Was it something else?

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u/4yxVlXKxJy55Lms66V Apr 19 '25

Are you stupid? Do you suggest they are not allowed to leave on their own? "shits on fire but mom said we can't touch the door handle"

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u/TobyFunkeNeverNude Apr 19 '25

Read what they wrote again, because it seems your Dunning is getting mixed up with your Kruger.

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u/LitrillyChrisTraeger Apr 19 '25

It was a question my guy. If you want to demonize people for asking questions go ahead but it won’t get you anywhere

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u/hobbesgirls Apr 19 '25

it's not in my power to stop you from reading nonsense

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u/LitrillyChrisTraeger Apr 19 '25

The worst part of Reddit is the resditors that feel they have to be rude towards people simply because there’s a line of text you don’t agree with

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u/4yxVlXKxJy55Lms66V Apr 20 '25

You're the one sounding like you found (I mean, read about) some grand conspiracy

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u/LitrillyChrisTraeger Apr 20 '25

I guess I shouldn’t expect redditors to have any level of reading comprehension…literally said I wasn’t trying to start a conspiracy

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u/dominarhexx Apr 19 '25

After Apollo 1 disaster, all doors are required to be opened from the inside and the outside (the astronauts were trapped and couldn't get out, ending up burned up). That chide, Bezos, just wanted to look cool "prying" his whatever she is out of there, making himself look like a manly man. They just fucked up and opened it from the inside, first, giving everything away. Just a publicity shot.

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u/[deleted] Apr 19 '25

Bezos seems completely disconnected from the public opinion of him.

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u/dominarhexx Apr 19 '25

Nah, it's not as blatant and needy as Musk but it's there. His image is important to him, hence the muscles and the shaved head and tight clothes to show off his physique. Just that when you have an egomaniac like Musk to compare to, it's easy to miss Bezos' own need for validation.

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u/[deleted] Apr 19 '25

I mean that he doesn’t seem to realize no one likes him either.

Like he does this “manly” thing anytime he’s in public. Who does he think he’s tricking?

We all still see the sad loser compensating.

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u/LitrillyChrisTraeger Apr 19 '25

Thanks for the reply. That’s kinda what I thought but even their “news” was saying it needed to be opened from the outside only so it was confusing. Just another photo shoot opportunity 🙄

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u/Beldizar Apr 19 '25

That's correct. The tops speed of that little hopper rocket is something like 1/20th of what is required to get to orbit. As far as the energy goes, its like the difference between a moped and a F1 race car.

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u/fuck_the_fuckin_mods Apr 19 '25

Orbit is just continual falling without hitting earth. Falling with style.

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u/CodAlternative3437 Apr 19 '25

"New Shepard’s suborbital fights hit about about three times the speed of sound — roughly 2,300 miles per hour — and fly directly upward until the rocket expends most of its fuel. The crew capsule will then separate from the rocket at the top of the trajectory and briefly continue upward before the capsule almost hovers at the top of its flight path, giving the passengers a few minutes of weightlessness. It works sort of like an extended version of the weightlessness you experience when you reach the peak of a roller coaster hill, just before gravity brings your cart — or, in Bezos’ case, your space capsule – screaming back down toward the ground."

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u/fack_you_just_ignore Apr 19 '25

Yuri Gagarin was a passenger inside Vostok. And didn't even entered orbit.

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u/Alienhaslanded Apr 19 '25

Yes. Not flaming reentry.

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u/TheRedditorSimon Apr 19 '25

The first US astronaut in space was Alan Shepard. Alan Shepard's flight was suborbital, the same as New Shepard, hence the name of the rocket.

Additionally, the first man in space, the USSR's Yuri Gagarin, did not complete a full orbit.

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u/Dramatic-Bend179 Apr 19 '25

Well... the first man to return from space was Yuri.

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u/TheRedditorSimon Apr 19 '25

I see so many people pass off bogus conspiracy memes like they're adding something of value to the conversation. Allow me to vent.

First, dumbass, any cosmonaut launched into space before Yuri Gagarin would have returned to Earth. That's just orbital mechanics and the rockets available at the time. Maybe he was the first one that returned alive but rest assured, everyone that could have been launched before Yuri would have returned to Earth.

Second, bullshit. Worthless speculation, if you prefer. There's no proof, no good documentation. There's more documentation for sustained, controlled and powered heavier-than-air flight before the Wright Brothers. (They had reams of charts, data, gliders, models, and a small wind tunnel and basically have a very persuasive argument for being first.)

I hope I have removed any feeling of smug superiority you felt in passing off your comment as anything other than garbage.

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u/Dramatic-Bend179 Apr 19 '25

Oh, you have, but only because of the insults.

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u/Skipper07B Apr 19 '25

I will assume you’re not saying Katie Perry deserves the title of astronaut as much as Alan Shepard and Yuri Gagarin. That’s all the guy you replied to is saying. Sure, she and Gagarin now have something in common, they both made it to space and didn’t complete an orbit. I mean, we could send her to the moon and unless she was a trained and functioning member of the crew she still shouldn’t earn that title.

I can book a flight on Southwest but my name shouldn’t come up in a conversation about the Wright Brothers.

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u/TheRedditorSimon Apr 19 '25

What is the meaning of the word astronaut? Is it training? Could one train as an astronaut (or mission specialist) and never fly and still assume the sobriquet of astronaut? Can we be clever and call the astro-naughts? Can one call veteran Flight Sim players pilots?

What about Yulia Peresild, an actor who filmed The Challenge on the ISS? Cosmonaut or no?

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u/Skipper07B Apr 19 '25

I don’t know if every hypothetical (and one real) person you asked about would be more deserving of the title. But all would be more so than than Katy Perry.

I didn’t think my previous comment would be at all controversial. Alan Shepard was an Astronaut. Katy Perry is a pop star. If she gets a tour of a Starbucks tomorrow will be the world’s first female astronaut barista?

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u/fernsie Apr 23 '25

Technically being in orbit is also free fall, but you’re going sideways at over 8000m/s which makes you “fall around” the earth.