astronaut

 

crew member on a U.S. manned spaceflight mission; the Soviet term is cosmonaut. Candidates for manned spaceflight are carefully screened to meet the highest physical and mental standards, and they undergo rigorous training. The early astronauts had all previously been test pilots, but later astronauts have included scientists and physicians, journalists, and politicians. As far as is possible, all conditions to be encountered in space are simulated in ground training. Astronauts are trained to function effectively in cramped quarters while wearing restrictive spacesuits; they are accelerated in giant centrifuges to test their reactions to the inertial forces experienced during liftoff; they are prepared for the physiological disorientation they will experience in space arising from weightlessness; and they spend long periods in isolation chambers to test their psychological reactions to solitude. Using trainers and mock-ups of actual spacecraft, astronauts rehearse every maneuver from liftoff to recovery, and every conceivable malfunction and difficulty is anticipated and prepared for. In addition to flight training, astronauts are required to have thorough knowledge of all aspects of space science, such as celestial mechanics and rocketry. Concurrent with all other preparation, astronauts must maintain excellent physical condition. Manned spaceflight began on Apr. 8, 1961, when the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin orbited the earth. Other prominent cosmonauts included Vladimir Komarov, commander of the first Voskhod spacecraft, Alexis Leonov, first man to walk in space, and Valentina Terechkova, first woman cosmonaut. Prominent American astronauts include Alan B. Shepard, Jr., who made a suborbital flight on May 5, 1961; John H. Glenn, Jr., who was the first American to orbit the earth; Neil A. Armstrong, Jr., Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., and Michael Collins, the crew of the Apollo 11 spacecraft that first landed on the Moon in 1969; and Sally K. Ride, America's first female astronaut.

Bibliography

See T. Wolfe, The Right Stuff (1975); G. L. Burdett and G. A. Soffen, The Human Quest in Space (1987); M. Collins, Carrying Fire (1989).

An astronaut or cosmonaut (Russian: космона́вт IPA: [kəsmʌˈnaft]) is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft.^[1] While generally reserved for professional space travelers, the term is sometimes applied to anyone who travels into space, including scientists, politicians, journalists, and tourists.^[2][3]

Definition

Until 2003, astronauts were sponsored and trained exclusively by governments, either by the military, or by civilian space agencies. However, with the first sub-orbital flight of the privately-funded SpaceShipOne in 2004, a new category of astronaut was created: the commercial astronaut. With the rise of space tourism, NASA and the Russian Federal Space Agency agreed to use the term "spaceflight participant" to distinguish those space travelers from astronauts on missions coordinated by those two agencies.

The criteria for what constitutes human spaceflight vary. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) defines spaceflight as any flight over  kilometers ( mi). However, in the United States, professional, military, and commercial astronauts who travel above an altitude of  kilometers ( mi) are awarded astronaut wings.

As of October 4, 2007, a total of 463 humans from 34 countries—415 men and 48 women—have reached Low Earth orbit or beyond.^[4][5] Of these, 26 people have traveled beyond Low Earth orbit, to either lunar or trans-lunar orbit or to the surface of the moon.^[6] According to the FAI guideline, 466 people qualify under the U. S. definition as having reached orbit.^[7] Space travelers have spent over 30,400 person-days (or a cumulative total of over 83 years) in space, including over 100 person-days of spacewalks.^[7][8] As of 2007, the man with the longest time in space is Sergei K. Krikalev, who has spent 803 days, 9 hours and 39 minutes, or 2.2 years, in space.^[9][10] Sunita L. Williams holds the record for most time in space by a woman, with 195 days spent in space.^[11][12]

Terminology

In the United States and many other English-speaking nations, a professional space traveler is called an astronaut. The term derives from the Greek words ástron (star) and nautes (sailor). The first known use of the term "astronaut" in the modern sense was by Neil R. Jones in his short story The Death's Head Meteor in 1930. The word itself had been known earlier. For example, in Percy Greg's 1880 book Across the Zodiac, "astronaut" referred to a spacecraft. In Les Navigateurs de l'Infini (1925) of J.-H. Rosny aîné the word astronautique (astronautic) was used. The word may have been inspired by "aeronaut", an older term for an air traveler first applied (in 1784) to balloonists.

NASA applies the term astronaut to any crew member aboard NASA spacecraft bound for Earth orbit or beyond. NASA also uses the term as a title for those selected to join its Astronaut Corps.^[13]

Russia

Main article: Soviet space program

By convention, an astronaut employed by the Russian Aviation and Space Agency (or its Soviet predecessor) is called a cosmonaut in English texts.^[13] The word is an anglicisation of the Russian word космонавт (transliteration: kosmonavt, IPA [kəsmʌˈnaft]), which in turn derives from the Greek words kosmos (universe) 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.

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.

China

In China, the term "yǔhángyuán" (宇航员) or "hángtiānyuán" (航天员) has long been used for astronauts. The phrase "tàikōng rén" (太空人, literally "space person") is often used in Taiwan and Hong Kong. The term taikonaut is often used by Western news media for professional space travelers from China. The origin of the term is unclear; as early as May 1998, Chiew Lee Yih (赵里昱) from Malaysia, used it in newsgroups, while Chen Lan, almost simultaneously, used it in Western media.^{[citation needed]} Official English texts issued by the Chinese government use astronaut while texts in Russian use cosmonaut.^[14][14]

Other terms

While no nation other than Russia (formerly the Soviet Union), the United States, and China has launched a manned spacecraft, several other nations have sent people into space in cooperation with one of these countries. Inspired partly by these missions, other synonyms for astronaut have entered occasional English usage. For example, the term spationaut (French spelling: spationaute) is sometimes used to describe French space travelers, from the Latin word spatium or "space".

The term "Angkasawan" is used in Malaysia to describe participants of the Angkasawan program. It is translated as astronaut or cosmonaut.

Space travel milestones

See also: Spaceflight records and Timeline of space travel by nationality

The first human in space was Russian Yuri Gagarin, who was launched into space on April 12 1961 aboard Vostok 1. The first woman was Russian Valentina Tereshkova, launched into space in June 1963 aboard Vostok 6.

Alan Shepard became the first American and second person in space on May 5, 1961, while the first American woman in space was Sally Ride, during Space Shuttle Challenger's mission STS-7, on June 18, 1983.^[15]

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. On 15 October 2003, Yang Liwei became China's first astronaut on the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft.

The Soviet Union, through its Intercosmos program, allowed people from other socialist countries to fly on its missions. An example is Vladimir Remek, a Czech, who became the first non-Soviet European in space in 1978 on a Russian Soyuz rocket.^[16] On July 23 1980, Pham Tuan of Vietnam became the first Asian in space when he flew aboard Soyuz 37.^[17] Also in 1980, Cuban 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).^[18][19]

With the larger number of seats available on the Space Shuttle, the U.S. began taking international astronauts. In April 1985, Taylor Wang became the first Chinese-born person in space; later that year, Rodolfo Neri Vela became the first Mexican-born person in space.^[20][21][22] In 1991, Helen Sharman became the first Briton to fly in space.^[23] In 2002, Mark Shuttleworth became the first citizen of an African country to fly in space, as a paying spaceflight participant.^[24]

Age milestones

The youngest person to fly in space is Russian Gherman Titov, who was 25 years old when he flew Vostok 2. (Titov was also the first person to suffer space sickness).^[25][26] The oldest person who has flown in space is John Glenn, who was 77 when he flew on STS-95.^[27] The longest stay in space was 438 days, by Russian Valeri Polyakov.^[7] As of 2006, the most spaceflights by an individual astronaut is 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.^[7]

Non-government milestones

The first non-governmental space traveler was Byron K. Lichtenberg, a researcher from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who flew on STS-9 in 1983.^[28] In December 1990, Toyohiro Akiyama became the first paying space traveler as a reporter for Tokyo Broadcasting System, a visit to Mir as part of an estimated $12 million (USD) deal with a Japanese TV station, although at the time, the term used to refer to Akiyama was "Research Cosmonaut".^[29][30][31] Akiyama suffered severe space-sickness during his mission, which affected his productivity.^[30]

The first self-funded space tourist was Dennis Tito onboard the Russian spacecraft Soyuz TM-3 on 28 April 2001.

Self-funded travelers

The first person to fly on an entirely privately-funded mission was Mike Melvill, piloting SpaceShipOne flight 15P on a sub-orbital journey, although he was a test pilot and not an actual paying space tourist.^[32][33]. Since then, five others have paid to fly into space:

1. Dennis Tito (American): April 28 - May 6, 2001
2. Mark Shuttleworth (South African / British): April 25 - May 5, 2002 (ISS)
3. Gregory Olsen (American): October 1 - October 11, 2005 (ISS)
4. Anousheh Ansari (Iranian / American): September 18 - September 29, 2006 (ISS)
5. Charles Simonyi (Hungarian / American): April 7 - April 21,2007 (ISS)

Training

The first NASA astronauts were selected in 1959.^[34] Early in the space program, jet aircraft and engineering training were prerequisites for selection as an astronaut at NASA, and candidates tended to have military backgrounds.^[35] The earliest astronauts for both America and Russia tended to be jet fighter pilots, and were often test pilots.

Once selected, NASA astronauts go through 20 months of training in a variety of areas, including training for extra-vehicular activity in a facility such as NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory.^[2][35] Astronauts-in-training may also experience short periods of weightlessness in aircraft called the "vomit comet", the nickname given to a pair of modified KC-135s (retired in 2000 and 2004 respectively, and replaced in 2005 with a C-9) which perform parabolic flights.^[34] Astronauts are also required to accumulate a number of flight hours in high-performance jet aircraft. This is mostly done in T-38 jet aircraft out of Ellington Field, due to its proximity to the Johnson Space Center. Ellington Field is also where the Shuttle Training Aircraft is maintained and developed, although most flights of the aircraft are done out of Edwards Air Force Base.

NASA candidacy requirements

• Be citizens of the United States.^[36][34]
• Pass a strict physical examination, and have a distant visual acuity no greater than 20/50 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20. Blood pressure, while sitting, must be no greater than 140 over 90.

Commander and Pilot

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics is required, and a graduate degree is desired, although not essential.
• At least l,000 hours flying time in jet aircraft, and experience as a test pilot is desirable.
• Height must be  inches ( ft) to  inches ( ft).

Mission Specialist

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics, as well as at least three years of related professional experience.
• Applicant's height must be  inches ( ft) to  inches ( ft).

Mission Specialist Educator

Main article: Educator Astronaut Project

• Bachelor's degree with teaching experience, including work at the kindergarten through 12th grade level. Advanced degree not required, but is desired.^[37]

Mission Specialist Educators, or "Educator Astronauts", were first selected in 2004, and as of 2007, there are three NASA Educator astronauts: Joseph M. Acaba, Richard R. Arnold, and Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger.^[38][39] Barbara Morgan, selected as back-up teacher to Christa McAuliffe in 1985, is considered to be the first Educator astronaut by the media, but she trained as a mission specialist.^[40] The Educator Astronaut program is a successor to the Teacher in Space program from the 1980s.^[41][36]

Insignia

At NASA, persons selected as astronaut candidates receive a silver lapel pin. Once they have flown in space they receive a gold pin. U.S. astronauts who also have active-duty military status receive a special qualification badge, known as the Astronaut Badge, upon participation on a spaceflight. The United States Air Force also presents an Astronaut Badge to its pilots who exceed 50 miles (80 km) in altitude.

Deaths

Main article: Space disaster

Space travel carries with it inherent risk and dangers. To date, nineteen people have been killed on five spaceflight missions, and at least ten more have been killed in ground-based training accidents. The five spaceflights which resulted in astronaut deaths are:

• 1967 April 24 - Vladimir Mikhaylovich Komarov died during the landing of Soyuz 1 when the capsule's parachute failed to open properly.
• 1967 November 15 - U.S. Air Force test pilot Major Michael J. Adams was killed when his X-15-3 research aircraft began to spin on re-entry and descent, and disintegrated near Randsburg, California. Maj. Adams was posthumously awarded astronaut wings for his last flight in the X-15-3, which had attained an altitude of 266,000 feet (81.1 km).
• 1971 June 30 - The crew of Soyuz 11, Georgi Dobrovolski, Viktor Patsayev and Vladislav Volkov, suffocated after undocking from space station Salyut 1. A valve on their spacecraft had accidentally opened when the service module separated, letting their air leak out into space.
• 1986 January 28 - The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. The Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds after launch on STS-51-L, resulting in the loss of all seven crew members: Greg Jarvis, Christa McAuliffe, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Michael J. Smith, and Dick Scobee.
• 2003 February 1 - The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. During the STS-107 mission, Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart while re-entering the Earth's atmosphere. Damage to the shuttle's thermal protection system (TPS) led to structural failure in the left wing, resulting in the death of all seven crew members: Rick D. Husband, William McCool, Michael P. Anderson, David M. Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel B. Clark, and Ilan Ramon.

See also

Astronaut Hall of Fame Commercial Astronaut List of astronauts by name List of astronauts by selection Timeline of astronauts by nationality List of human spaceflights List of space travelers by name List of spacewalks and moonwalks X-15 program

Spaceflight records Shirley Thomas, author of Men of Space series (1960-1968) Cosmonautics Day Yuri's Night Fallen Astronaut List of fictional astronauts Moon Landing Mercury 13 - A group of 13 women who were tested, but never flew in space.

References

External links

• NASA: How to become an astronaut 101
• List of International partnership organizations
• Encyclopedia Astronautica: Phantom cosmonauts
• collectSPACE: Astronaut appearances calendar
• spacefacts Spacefacts.de
• Space and Astronautics News
• Manned astronautics: facts and figures

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