"Jay Masino" wrote in message
...
Tom Sixkiller wrote:
Yes, of course. The first civilian astronaut was Joseph Walker, who
flew
the X-15 to an altitude of 347,800 feet on July 19, 1963.

Were the X-15 pilots classified as "astronauts"?

I believe it crossed the internationally accepted "boundary" of space
(100km).

That's true, but that's not (AFAIK) what gets the plot classified as
"Astronaut". Some people with that classification have never been up in
"space", but by the classification are qualified to go there.