Being British

[Quizmonster]

Michael Foale was born in Britain to a British father and American mother and subsequently raised and educated here, including graduating from Cambridge. He has dual British/American nationality and was trained as an astronaut. As a result, he has been in space multiple times since the early 1990s, including a period as Commander of the International Space Station.
How is it, then, that Tim Peake, is being billed as "the first British man" to do such things? As I understand it, dual nationality means just that...one has BOTH and thus Michael Foale is British. I'm not trying to demean Tim Peake, who is obviously a brave man and good luck to him. I simply don't understand why he is deemed to be "first".

[ichkeria]

Neither do I.
He's the first Briton on the International Space Station not also to have another passport I suppose. Scraping the barrel a bit I think, but it may also be that nowadays the Baikonur cosmodrome is more open than in the days of Foale, and certainly than the days of Sharman and Mir ...
So they can do nice heartwarming pieces from the launch site to make it more "real"

[ToraToraTora]

Good point, Neil Armstrong was a Brit too.

[ichkeria]

(Andy Murray hasn't been into space though unless he's sneaked up while we weren't looking)

In fairness I can't find too much stuff proclaiming as "the first" - just the first for a while.

[youngmafbog]

Yes it seems to have been dropped in later reports.

[jackthehat]

The Americans used to have a policy of requiring 'their' astronauts to take American citizenship.
Tim Peake is the first British Astronaut NOT required to do so, hence he is 'fully' British.

[anotheoldgit]

Does it really matter?

It's the same with the first black this the first black that, and as in this case the first Blackman in space.

If one googles The first Blackman in space, one is confronted with the first black/American (1983) also the first black Cuban National (1980) and the first black/African (2015).

[Quizmonster]

Andy Murray was the first British man to win the Wimbledon singles title since Fred Perry did so in 1936 and a member of the British team to win the Davis Cup title for the first time since the same year.
These are two examples of "firsts since" rather than "firsts ever", as Ichkeria has pointed out.
In terms of my question, Foale was the "first Brit male ever" and Peake is "the first Brit male since".
Perhaps I'm a bit slow today, TTT, but I don't get the Neil Armstrong joke...assuming it was a joke!

[Quizmonster]

Anotheoldgit, you appear, as ever, to have missed the point...namely, the difference between apples and pears, as it is usually decribed.
Americans, Cubans and whoever are all different nationalities, whereas Foale and Peake are both British.

[Peter Pedant]

Queen EElizabeth our liege lady queen is a hun isnt she ?

she hasnt been into space either

[ sozza just following the line of this thread ]

[Peter Pedant]

Charles Lindie Lindbergh is often creditted with being the first to fly the atlantic whereas everyone should know it was Alscok and Brown in a Vickers Gotha bomber ....1919

[anotheoldgit]

Quizmonster

/// Anotheoldgit, you appear, as ever, to have missed the point...namely, the difference between apples and pears, as it is usually decribed.
Americans, Cubans and whoever are all different nationalities, whereas Foale and Peake are both
British. ///

I think it is you who has missed the point, I never said that American, Cuban, and Africans were not nationalities, it was the inclusion of the prefix black that I was referring to, which you conveniently chose to ignore.

[Cloverjo]

I guess Tim Peake is the first to wear the British flag on his sleeve. Foale might have been British and American but chose to wear the American flag.

[retrocop]

Vickers Vimy. Gotha was German einstein

[anotheoldgit]

Peter Pedant

/// Charles Lindie Lindbergh is often creditted with being the first to fly the atlantic whereas everyone should know it was Alscok and Brown in a Vickers Gotha bomber ....1919 ///

I believe Charles Lindie Lindbergh was credited as being the first person to fly the Atlantic solo.

[retrocop]

PP talking all cock and bull again. :-)

[Quizmonster]

Cloverjo, I'd be perfectly happy if everyone claimed "Tim Peake is the first (male astronaut headed for the ISS) to wear the British flag on his sleeve." But they don't, do they? I might be the first man to swim the Channel wearing a shark suit, but that would never qualify me as being the first man to swim the Channel. One's clothing is of no consequence, in other words.

If British is half of one's dual nationality status...whether the other half is Australian, French, Egyptian or whatever...one is British. It might sound anomalous, but one is 'wholly' either part or, if you prefer, both parts separately.

Whatever...thank you all for your responses.

[tamborine]

Chris Hadfield was 1st to perform a british song in space

https://youtu.be/KaOC9danxNo

[ABerrant]

Major Peake will become the first British ESA astronaut to man the ISS.

[Quizmonster]

The addition of the letters 'ESA' makes all the difference, AB...no quibble with that whatsoever!