Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and British billionaire businessman Richard Branson, who are dreaming of calling themselves astronauts by taking a space walk, have suffered a severe setback. Also read How rich is astronaut Jeff Bezos? Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson explains with a space analogyTo qualify as a commercial astronaut, space travel goers will have to travel 50 miles above the earth's surface, completed by both Bezos and Branson. However, there are two other ways to earn astronaut wings in the US - through the military or NASA. Astronaut wings were first awarded to astronauts Alan Shepard Jr and Virgil Grissom in the early 1960s for their participation in the Mercury Seven programme.

Source: dna July 24, 2021 13:07 UTC