U.S. Space Shuttle astronaut
Bruce McCandless II using a manned maneuvering unit (MMU) outside the
Challenger in 1984. Picture courtesy NASA
An astronaut, cosmonaut (Russian: космона́вт), spationaut or taikonaut (taikongren, 太空人) is a person who travels into space, or who makes a career of doing so. The criteria for determining who has achieved human spaceflight vary (see edge of space). In the United States, people who travel above an altitude of 50 miles (80 km) are designated as astronauts. The FAI defines spaceflight as over 100 km (62 miles). As of October 12, 2005, a total of 448 humans have reached space according to the U.S. definition, 442 people qualify under the FAI definition, while 438 people have reached Earth orbit or beyond. These individuals have spent over 28,000 crew-days (or a cumulative total of 76.7 years) in space including over 100 crew-days of spacewalks. A person who has traveled in space is said to hold astronaut wings. Astronauts from at least 34 countries have gone into space.
International variations
By convention, a space traveller employed by the Russian Aviation and Space Agency or its Soviet predecessor is called a cosmonaut. "Cosmonaut" is an anglicisation of the Russian word космонавт (kosmonavt), which in turn derives from the Greek words kosmos ("universe") and nautes ("sailor").
In the USA, a space traveller is called an astronaut. The term derives from the Greek words ástron ("star") and nautes, ("sailor"). For the most part, "cosmonaut" and "astronaut" are synonyms in all languages, and the usage of choice is often dictated by political reasons. However in the United States, the term "astronaut" is typically applied to the individual as soon as training begins, while in Russia, an individual is not labeled a cosmonaut until successful space flight. The first known use of the term was by Neil R. Jones in his short story The Death's Head Meteor in 1930. On March 14, 1995 astronaut Norman Thagard became the first American to ride to space on board a Russian launch vehicle, arguably becoming the first American cosmonaut in the process.
European (outside of the UK) space travellers are sometimes, especially in French-speaking countries, called spationauts (a hybrid word formed from the Latin spatium, "space", and Greek nautes, "sailor"). Apart from the Soviet Union, Europe has not yet produced manned spacecraft, but has sent men and women into space in cooperation with Russia and the United States.
Taikonaut is sometimes used in English for astronauts from China by Western news media. The term was coined in May 1998 by Chiew Lee Yih (赵里昱) from Malaysia, who used it first in newsgroups. Almost simultaneously, Chen Lan coined it for use in the Western media based on the term tàikōng (太空, literally "great emptiness"), Chinese for "space". In Chinese itself, however, a single term yǔháng yuán (宇航员, "universe navigator") has long been used for astronauts. The closest term using taikong is a colloquialism tàikōng rén (太空人, "space person"), which refers to people who have actually been in space. Official English texts issued by the Chinese government use astronaut (Simplified Chinese: 航天员; Hanyu Pinyin: hángtiān yuán).
Space milestones
The first attempt ever in human history to use rocket for a spaceflight was done in the 16th century by a Chinese Ming dynasty official, a skilled stargazer named Wan Hu.[1] This attempt was not successful.
The first cosmonaut was Yuri Gagarin, who was launched into space on April 12, 1961 aboard Vostok 1. The first woman cosmonaut was Valentina Tereshkova, launched into space in June 1963 aboard Vostok 6. Alan Shepard became the first American in space in May 1961. Vladimir Remek became the first non-Soviet European in space in 1978 on a Russian Soyuz rocket. On July 23, 1980 Pham Tuan of Vietnam became the first Asian in space when he flew aboard Soyuz 37. Also in 1980, Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez became the first person of African descent to fly in space. (The first person born in Africa to fly in space was Patrick Baudry.) In June 1985 Shannon Lucid became the first Chinese born person in space. In 2002 Mark Shuttleworth became the first citizen of an African country to fly in space. On 15 October 2003 Yang Liwei became China's first astronaut on the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft. The first mission to orbit the moon was Apollo 8 which included William Anders - who was born in Hong Kong making him the first Asian-born astronaut in 1968.
The youngest person to fly in space is Gherman Titov, who was roughly 26 years old when he flew Vostok 2, and the oldest is John Glenn who was 77 when he flew on STS-95. The longest stay in space was 438 days by Valeri Polyakov. As of 2005, the most spaceflights by an individual astronaut was seven, a record held by both Jerry L. Ross and Franklin Chang-Diaz. The furthest distance from Earth an astronaut has traveled was 401 056 km (during the Apollo 13 emergency).
The first non-governmental astronaut was Byron K. Lichtenberg, an MIT researcher who flew on Space Shuttle mission STS-9 in 1983. In December 1990, Toyohiro Akiyama became the first commercial space‐farer as a reporter for TBS who paid for his flight. The first self‐funded space tourist was Dennis Tito on 28 April 2001, while the first astronaut to fly on an entirely privately-funded mission was Mike Melvill, on SpaceShipOne flight 15P, though this flight was sub‐orbital.
In the United States, persons selected as astronaut candidates receive silver Astronaut wings. Once they have flown in space they receive gold Astronaut wings. The United States Air Force also presents Astronaut wings to its pilots who exceed 50 miles (80 km) in altitude.
Astronaut training
The first astronauts, both in the USA and USSR, tended to be jet fighter pilots, often test pilots, from military backgrounds. U.S. military astronauts receive a special qualification badge, known as the Astronaut Badge upon completion of Astronaut training and participation in a space flight.
Astronaut deaths
To date, eighteen astronauts have been killed on space missions, and at least ten more have been killed in ground-based training accidents. See also: space disaster.
See also
External links
