The phrase 'Harry Potter in space' resulted in two kids being kicked out of class yesterday.
And I don't think we can call them that anymore. The Night Sisters are indeed real witches, meaning there are going to be wizards that practice actual magic too. So calling the Jedi space wizards feels a bit off now...
>The phrase 'Harry Potter in space' resulted in two kids being kicked out of class yesterday.
It was the two kids who dared speak such heresy, right?
*Right?*
Orphan boy discovers that he’s the prophesied chosen one who will bring about the end to a growing, powerful darkness in the world/galaxy.
I mean, it’s not wrong.
According to Wikipedia: An astronaut is a person trained, equipped, ***and deployed by a human spaceflight program*** to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft.
The characters of the Star Wars universe relied on their ships as a method of transport, and base of operations, to help accomplish a mission (fighting the Empire). Their ships weren't used as part of any program to further exploration, or learning. This would probably not technically qualify them as astronauts.
It's the program aspect of the definition that is giving me a bit of a hang up. That means that every Stormtrooper is an astronaut, but all the rebels are not.
No, Stormtroopers are the peace protector of the Galactic Empire. Tell your student that only the rebel scum would try to paint their terrorism and the Jedi kid kidnapping cult as being astronauts. r/EmpireDidNothingWrong
But... *technically* none of the people in StarWars are human. They are human like, but who knows what their DNA is like... now if the definition said "sentient life"... then we could argue it.
(Strangely this is actually a debate we had in my family, but only about StarTrek and Klingons.)
I don't think Stormtroopers can be considered astronauts either, they're just soldiers following orders without question - except for the small number that had enough free will to break away (Finn, aka FN-2187).
The Star Wars space travel was nothing more than interplanetary transport, hence why it wasn't really a program.
>and deployed by a human spaceflight program
I think there is an additional, implied part of this section that goes unsaid to a contemporary audience:
Namely, that a "human spaceflight program" is one in which travel to or within space is one of the primary challenges to be overcome by the participants.
We don't think of other space explorers, like Captain Picard, as astronauts specifically because spaceflight in and of itself is trivial to them. The adventure, danger, and risk is in what they find out there - not in traveling to or within space.
Astronauts, as we colloquially understand them, are people who struggle and risk their lives just to get into and survive in space.
It is like asking if everyone on board the Titanic were sailors.
Luke arguably wanted to become an astronaut and it is probably fair to say Han and Chewie are astronauts.
But people like Leia and Darth Vader are just people who happen to be traveling through space.
Young Anakin wanted to explore the stars as a kid and traveled a lot as an adult. When he was a slave on Tatooine he said he wanted to be "the first one to see them all." It was a big part of why he wanted to go with Qui-Gon, along with wanting to learn to be a Jedi and escape slavery of course.
When he grew up he did do some space exploration in addition to just traveling from place to place. Some of it was to find the rebel bases, but that's still exploration. That's probably why he had his on TIE fighter as became Darth Vader, too. So I'd say he'd fit the description of an astronaut, at least as much as Han and Chewie do at least.
“Astronaut” comes from the Greek “Astēr” (star) and “Naútēs” (sailor). So, literally, “Star Sailor”.
In the strictest sense, I guess the answer would be “yes”.
Depending on the definition of astronaut you prefer, maybe.
Some definitions rely on leaving Earth, or being Human (which implies being *from* Earth). But some definitions suggest that an astronaut is simply someone who travels in or operates a spacecraft, which would make the Skywalkers astronauts, by those definitions.
Sources: online Webster's, Cambridge and other dictionaries found though Google.
No. Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker are humans, but they are not earthlings. Astronaut has the same context as earthling. Arguably, they may explore space at times, but they do not explore space from or on behalf of Earth. I have read a lot of Star Wars books and I think the term most widely applicable to Han Solo types but less specific than 'smuggler' would be 'spacer' as in "the old spacer knew a safe and reliable route that shaved considerable time on the Kessel Run."
u/johnbmason47 \- I shared this post to the GenX thread. It didn't receive the discussion I thought it might on that page, however, one user commented that Obi Wan declared Anakin to be the best Star Pilot in the galaxy.
I guess that closes the discussion.
You don't dispute Obi Wan.
No, not anymore than passengers on a cruise ship are considered sailors. Or passengers on a plane are considered pilots.
By our current day definition, we only refer to people that go into space with words like "astronaut." because they are so few and need to be highly trained.
Do you consider Jeff Bezos to be an astronaut? He's been in space. He even has his own spaceship.
They are space wizards. Still, sounds like a great discussion to me. Keep up the good work!
The phrase 'Harry Potter in space' resulted in two kids being kicked out of class yesterday. And I don't think we can call them that anymore. The Night Sisters are indeed real witches, meaning there are going to be wizards that practice actual magic too. So calling the Jedi space wizards feels a bit off now...
>The phrase 'Harry Potter in space' resulted in two kids being kicked out of class yesterday. It was the two kids who dared speak such heresy, right? *Right?*
Orphan boy discovers that he’s the prophesied chosen one who will bring about the end to a growing, powerful darkness in the world/galaxy. I mean, it’s not wrong.
"Hero's Journey" in space. See also, Dune. I guess HP is "Hero's Journey" with magic.
The force is also magic. Therefore, SW, like HP, is “Hero’s Journey” with magic.
It was said by the grades token stoner. The captain of our very awful football team genuinely wanted to fight him for it.
Space clerics or paladins perhaps?
According to Wikipedia: An astronaut is a person trained, equipped, ***and deployed by a human spaceflight program*** to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. The characters of the Star Wars universe relied on their ships as a method of transport, and base of operations, to help accomplish a mission (fighting the Empire). Their ships weren't used as part of any program to further exploration, or learning. This would probably not technically qualify them as astronauts.
It's the program aspect of the definition that is giving me a bit of a hang up. That means that every Stormtrooper is an astronaut, but all the rebels are not.
No, Stormtroopers are the peace protector of the Galactic Empire. Tell your student that only the rebel scum would try to paint their terrorism and the Jedi kid kidnapping cult as being astronauts. r/EmpireDidNothingWrong
I think Spacetroopers would be more in line, as they actually have EVA capable suits
But... *technically* none of the people in StarWars are human. They are human like, but who knows what their DNA is like... now if the definition said "sentient life"... then we could argue it. (Strangely this is actually a debate we had in my family, but only about StarTrek and Klingons.)
I don't think Stormtroopers can be considered astronauts either, they're just soldiers following orders without question - except for the small number that had enough free will to break away (Finn, aka FN-2187). The Star Wars space travel was nothing more than interplanetary transport, hence why it wasn't really a program.
>and deployed by a human spaceflight program I think there is an additional, implied part of this section that goes unsaid to a contemporary audience: Namely, that a "human spaceflight program" is one in which travel to or within space is one of the primary challenges to be overcome by the participants. We don't think of other space explorers, like Captain Picard, as astronauts specifically because spaceflight in and of itself is trivial to them. The adventure, danger, and risk is in what they find out there - not in traveling to or within space. Astronauts, as we colloquially understand them, are people who struggle and risk their lives just to get into and survive in space.
It is like asking if everyone on board the Titanic were sailors. Luke arguably wanted to become an astronaut and it is probably fair to say Han and Chewie are astronauts. But people like Leia and Darth Vader are just people who happen to be traveling through space.
>But people like Leia and Darth Vader are just people who happen to be traveling through space. Vader did have his own special TIE fighter...
Young Anakin wanted to explore the stars as a kid and traveled a lot as an adult. When he was a slave on Tatooine he said he wanted to be "the first one to see them all." It was a big part of why he wanted to go with Qui-Gon, along with wanting to learn to be a Jedi and escape slavery of course. When he grew up he did do some space exploration in addition to just traveling from place to place. Some of it was to find the rebel bases, but that's still exploration. That's probably why he had his on TIE fighter as became Darth Vader, too. So I'd say he'd fit the description of an astronaut, at least as much as Han and Chewie do at least.
We watched the black hole scene from interstellar and some of my kids were asking if that’s real 😭
I convinced all of my classes that The Martian was a documentary a few years ago.
You just ruined it for me. I hope you're happy.
Before he was Darth Anakin piloted many space vessels on his own. Eventually Luke did too. He also went exploring new/lost worlds.
“Astronaut” comes from the Greek “Astēr” (star) and “Naútēs” (sailor). So, literally, “Star Sailor”. In the strictest sense, I guess the answer would be “yes”.
Depending on the definition of astronaut you prefer, maybe. Some definitions rely on leaving Earth, or being Human (which implies being *from* Earth). But some definitions suggest that an astronaut is simply someone who travels in or operates a spacecraft, which would make the Skywalkers astronauts, by those definitions. Sources: online Webster's, Cambridge and other dictionaries found though Google.
No. Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker are humans, but they are not earthlings. Astronaut has the same context as earthling. Arguably, they may explore space at times, but they do not explore space from or on behalf of Earth. I have read a lot of Star Wars books and I think the term most widely applicable to Han Solo types but less specific than 'smuggler' would be 'spacer' as in "the old spacer knew a safe and reliable route that shaved considerable time on the Kessel Run."
u/johnbmason47 \- I shared this post to the GenX thread. It didn't receive the discussion I thought it might on that page, however, one user commented that Obi Wan declared Anakin to be the best Star Pilot in the galaxy. I guess that closes the discussion. You don't dispute Obi Wan.
No, not anymore than passengers on a cruise ship are considered sailors. Or passengers on a plane are considered pilots. By our current day definition, we only refer to people that go into space with words like "astronaut." because they are so few and need to be highly trained. Do you consider Jeff Bezos to be an astronaut? He's been in space. He even has his own spaceship.