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Astronaut

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image:Astronaut-EVA.jpg right|300px|thumb|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 language Russian: ÐºÐ¾Ñ?Ð¼Ð¾Ð½Ð°Ì?Ð²Ñ‚), '''spationaut''' or '''taikonaut''' (''taikongren'', å¤ªç©ºäºº) is a person who space travel 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 FÃ©dÃ©ration AÃ©ronautique Internationale FAI defines spaceflight as over 100 km (62 miles). As of March 30, As of 2006 2006, a total of 449 humans have reached space according to the U.S. definition, 443 people qualify under the FAI definition, while 439 people have reached Earth orbit or beyond. These individuals have spent over 28,000 crew-days (or a cumulative total of over 77 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 Timeline of astronauts by nationality 35 countries have gone into space.

International variations
Image:Astronauts by country date first spaceflight.PNG thumb|[[Timeline of astronauts by nationality|Countries whose astronauts have flown in space]] By convention, a space traveller employed by the Russian Aviation and Space Agency (or its Soviet space program Soviet predecessor) is called a '''cosmonaut'''. The word is an anglicisation of the Russian word ÐºÐ¾Ñ?Ð¼Ð¾Ð½Ð°Ð²Ñ‚ ''(kosmonavt)'', which in turn derives from the Greek language Greek words ''kosmos'' ("universe") and ''nautes'' ("sailor"). In the U.S., a space traveller is called an '''astronaut'''. The term derives from the Greek words ''Ã¡stron'' ("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 "astronaut" 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. In France space travellers are sometimes 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 Space program of China China by Western news media. The term was coined in May 1998 by Chiew Lee Yih (èµµé‡Œæ˜±) from Malaysia, who used it first in newsgroups. Almost simultaneously, Chen Lan coined it for use in the Western mass media media based on the term ''tÃ ikÅ?ng'' (å¤ªç©º, literally "great emptiness"), Chinese language Chinese for "outer space space". In Chinese itself, however, a single term ''yÇ”hÃ¡ng yuÃ¡n'' (å®‡èˆªå‘˜, "universe navigator") has long been used for astronauts. The closest term using ''taikong'' is a colloquialism ''tÃ ikÅ?ng rÃ©n'' (å¤ªç©ºäºº, "space person"), which refers to people who have actually been in space. Official English texts issued by the Chinese government use ''astronaut'' ({{zh-sp|s=èˆªå¤©å‘˜|p=hÃ¡ngtiÄ?n yuÃ¡n}}).

Space milestones
Image:GagarinPortrait.jpg right|thumb|200px|[[Yuri Gagarin, first person in space (1961)]] Image:Tereshkova.jpg right|thumb|200px|[[Valentina Tereshkova, first woman in space (1963)]] Image:Mexico.RodolfoNeriVela.01.jpg right|thumb|200px|Dr. [[Rodolfo Neri, first Mexican man in space (1985)]] The first attempt ever in human history to use a rocket for spaceflight was done in the 16th century by a Chinese Ming dynasty official, a skilled stargazer named Wan Hu.^{[http://edition.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/09/30/china.wanhu/index.html]} 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, while the first American woman in space was Sally Ride on June 18, 1983. Vladimir Remek, a Czech, became the first non-Soviet European in space in 1978 on a Russian Soyuz launch vehicle 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, Cuban Arnaldo Tamayo MÃ©ndez 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 April 1985 Taylor Wang became the first Chinese-born person in space; later that year, Rodolfo Neri became the first Mexican-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 (he was also the first to suffer "space sickness"), 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 Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT researcher who flew on Space Shuttle program Space Shuttle mission STS-9 in 1983. In December 1990, Toyohiro Akiyama became the first commercial spaceâ€?farer as a reporter for Tokyo Broadcasting System, who paid for his flight. The first selfâ€?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 subâ€?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 U.S. 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
Image:DickScobee.jpeg frame|[[Dick Scobee, commander of the Space Shuttle Challenger during the STS-51-L mission. ]] 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
* List of astronauts by name * List of astronauts by selection * Timeline of astronauts by nationality * List of human spaceflights: List of human spaceflights, 1961-1986 1961-1986, List of human spaceflights, 1987-1999 1987-1999, List of human spaceflights, 2000-present 2000-present. * List of spacewalks and moonwalks * X-15 * Spaceflight records * Shirley Thomas (USC professor) Shirley Thomas, author of ''Men of Space'' series (1960-1968)

External links

- Encyclopedia Astronautica
- Encyclopedia Astronautica: Phantom cosmonauts
- collectSPACE: Astronaut appearances calendar Category:Astronauts af:Ruimtevaarder bn:à¦®à¦¹à¦¾à¦¶à§‚à¦£à§?à¦¯à¦šà¦¾à¦°à§€ bg:ÐšÐ¾Ñ?Ð¼Ð¾Ð½Ð°Ð²Ñ‚ ca:Astronauta cv:ÐšÐ¾Ñ?Ð¼Ð¾Ð½Ð°Ð²Ñ‚ cs:Kosmonaut da:Astronaut de:Raumfahrer es:Astronauta eo:KosmonaÅto fr:Spationaute ko:ìš°ì£¼ë¹„í–‰ì‚¬ id:Astronaut it:Astronauta he:×˜×™×™×¡ ×—×œ×œ la:Astronauta hu:Å°rhajÃ³s nl:Ruimtevaarder ja:å®‡å®™é£›è¡Œå£« no:Astronaut pl:Astronauta pt:Astronauta ru:ÐšÐ¾Ñ?Ð¼Ð¾Ð½Ð°Ð²Ñ‚ simple:Astronaut sk:Kozmonaut sl:Astronavt fi:Astronautti sv:Rymdfarare th:à¸™à¸±à¸?à¸šà¸´à¸™à¸à¸§à¸?à¸²à¸¨ uk:Ð?Ñ?Ñ‚Ñ€Ð¾Ð½Ð°Ð²Ñ‚ zh:å®‡èˆªå‘˜

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