Following official recognition by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), globally acclaimed online media, Wikipedia has officially listed the U. S. based Astronaut, Chief Owolabi Salis, amongst the universally recognised lists of people who had successfully travelled to the outer space.
The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) defines space flight as any flight over 100 kilometers (62 miles) above sea-level. Those able to breast the tape above this threshold are awarded with Astronaut Wings.
The globally acclaimed online encyclopedia further recognised the Nigeria-born Lawyer and Finance technocrat as the first Nigerian to travel to the outer space.
By this rating, Salis who was numerically listed as 702, amongst the hierarchy of officially acknowledged space travellers since the annals of human existence, thus became not only the first, but also the only Nigerian ever to have successfully undertaken the journey, in the annals of outer-space adventure.
The Nigeria-born Lawyer-Astronaut described the recognition by Wikipedia as immensely gladdening and encouraging, considering the fact that our planet is approximately five billion years old and about 117 billion people had lived in it, out of which only an infinitesimal 720 people had been to space.
Topping the list was Yuri Gagarin, from the defunct Soviet Union recorded as the first person to have navigated the space on April 12,1961, coming close on the heels by Alan Shepard, the first American to have achieved the feat barely a month after, in May 5,1961.
According to Wikipedia, the qualification for enlistment is based on achieving an altitude higher than 330,000 feet as stipulated by Federation Aeronatique Internationale, the universally endorsed body that certifies aviation records.
It could be recalled that on June 29, the history-making Legal luminary, along with six others, took a trip to space, aboard the Blue Origin space-craft, which took off from West Texas and reached approximately 105 Km altitude, crossing the Karman Line, the internationally recognized boundary for space travel. The trip code-named NS-33 was undertaken under the auspices of Blue Origin, an aerospace company owned by Amazon, founder of Jeff Broz.
On the historic trip with Salis was Allie Kuehner, Carl Kuehner, Leland Larson, Freddie Rescigno Jnr. and Jim Sitkin, in an adventure which Salis the Leader and Founder of Soul Makers Ministry World-Wide described as spiritually rewarding.
