>>13429508Everyone going to settle Mars or the Moon would be both an astronaut AND would be deserving of wings, even if technically they are passengers, because large scale transport of people has never been attempted in human space flight and history, and every bit of knowledge from every single person, who's biology is distinct, is a massive contribution to human society forever.
That would be the only time, ever, where I'd step back and agree that the definition for what an astronaut is deserves review and update--because at that point, we'll have stopped being a species limited to a single planet. We'll have crossed the threshold of being a Type 0 civilization, and will begin our proper ascension towards a Type 1 (of which, multi-planetary colonization is undoubtedly a requirement in order to reach completion of this "stage"). The necessity of travel across a solar system and colonization of other worlds, will spur a magnitude order escalation in technological and scientific growth in all sectors of society.
Supporting 100 people on another world will form whole new industries. Supporting 1,000 even more, 10,000 even more, 100,000 EVEN more, 1,000,000 EVEN MORE; and so on. Beyond a certain number, all travelers would be astronauts and only scientists who conduct activities pushing the boundary of capability would be deserving of wings. That said, outliers would also qualify.
Bezos gets wings when he can deliver O'Neil habitation cylinders to the world or Blue Origin gets its shit together, build New Glenn, gets it off the fucking ground, and then builds New Armstrong, rides it to orbit, and comes back down. That would be his major contribution to society, and deserving of wings.
IF and when Elon flies to Mars to die on it, he'll get wings, because SpaceX's contribution to human society in spaceflight is so large, he's basically already gotten the wings theoretically, he only hasn't made the flight to be rewarded them.
