Astronaut#Taikonaut

File:Alan Shepard in capsule aboard Freedom 7 before launch.jpg aboard Freedom 7 (1961)]]

The criteria for what constitutes human spaceflight vary, with some focus on the point where the atmosphere becomes so thin that centrifugal force, rather than aerodynamic force, carries a significant portion of the weight of the flight object. The {{lang|fr|Fédération Aéronautique Internationale|italic=no}} (FAI) Sporting Code for astronautics recognizes only flights that exceed the Kármán line, at an altitude of {{convert|100|km|mi|sp=us}}.{{cite web |url = https://www.fai.org/sites/default/files/documents/sporting_code_section_8_edition_2009.pdf |title = FAI Sporting Code, Section 8, Paragraph 2.18.1 |date = 22 May 2012 |access-date = 9 January 2021 |archive-date = 7 November 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171107031341/https://www.fai.org/sites/default/files/documents/sporting_code_section_8_edition_2009.pdf |url-status = live }} In the United States, professional, military, and commercial astronauts who travel above an altitude of {{convert|80|km|mi}}{{cite web |url = http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/news/NewsReleases/2005/05-57.html |title = X-15 Space Pioneers Now Honored as Astronauts |first = Mary |last = Whelan |date = 5 June 2013 |access-date = 25 February 2009 |archive-date = 11 June 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170611194526/https://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/news/NewsReleases/2005/05-57.html |url-status = live }} are awarded astronaut wings.

{{As of|2016|November|17}}, 552 people from 36 countries have reached {{convert|100|km|0|abbr=on}} or more in altitude, of whom 549 reached low Earth orbit or beyond.{{cite web|url=http://www.worldspaceflight.com/bios/stats.php|title=Astronaut/Cosmonaut Statistics|access-date=17 November 2016|website=www.worldspaceflight.com|archive-date=3 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103025015/http://www.worldspaceflight.com/bios/stats.php|url-status=live}}

Of these, 24 people have traveled beyond low Earth orbit, either to lunar orbit, the lunar surface, or, in one case, a loop around the Moon.{{NoteTag|Apollo 13 had to abort an intended lunar landing, and looped around the Moon to return its three astronauts to Earth.}} Three of the 24—Jim Lovell, John Young and Eugene Cernan—did so twice.{{cite web |url = http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/factoids/hundred.htm |title = NASA's First 100 Human Space Flights |access-date = 4 October 2007 |publisher=NASA |author=NASA |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070827140010/http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/factoids/hundred.htm |archive-date=27 August 2007 |url-status=dead }}

{{As of|2016|November|17}}, under the U.S. definition, 558 people qualify as having reached space, above {{convert|50|mi|km}} altitude. Of eight X-15 pilots who exceeded {{convert|50|mi|km}} in altitude, only one, Joseph A. Walker, exceeded 100 kilometers (about 62.1 miles) and he did it two times, becoming the first person in space twice. Space travelers have spent over 41,790 man-days (114.5-man-years) in space, including over 100 astronaut-days of spacewalks.{{cite web|url=http://www.astronautix.com/articles/aststics.htm|title=Astronaut Statistics – as of 14 November 2008|access-date=4 October 2007|publisher=Encyclopedia Astronautica|year=2007|author=Encyclopedia Astronautica|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930195311/http://www.astronautix.com/articles/aststics.htm|archive-date=30 September 2007|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/workinginspace/eva_stats.html|title=Walking in the Void|access-date=4 October 2007|publisher=NASA|year=2004|author=NASA|archive-date=6 January 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080106093433/http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/workinginspace/eva_stats.html|url-status=dead}} {{As of|2024}}, the man with the longest cumulative time in space is Oleg Kononenko, who has spent over 1100 days in space.

{{cite news

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| title = Russian cosmonaut becomes 1st person to spend 1,000 cumulative days in space

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}} Peggy A. Whitson holds the record for the most time in space by a woman, at 675 days.{{cite web |url = http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/whitson.html | title = Peggy A. Whitson (PhD) | work = Biographical Data | publisher = National Aeronautics and Space Administration | author=NASA | access-date = 13 May 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080509130749/http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/whitson.html | archive-date = 9 May 2008 | url-status=live}}

{{See also|Astronaut ranks and positions}}

In 1959, when both the United States and Soviet Union were planning, but had yet to launch humans into space, NASA Administrator T. Keith Glennan and his Deputy Administrator, Hugh Dryden, discussed whether spacecraft crew members should be called astronauts or cosmonauts. Dryden preferred "cosmonaut", on the grounds that flights would occur in and to the broader cosmos, while the "astro" prefix suggested flight specifically to the stars.{{cite book|title=A Dictionary of the Space Age|author=Paul Dickson|publisher=JHU Press|date=2009|page=27|isbn=9780801895043|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=afKBvKlg0-EC&pg=PA27}} Most NASA Space Task Group members preferred "astronaut", which survived by common usage as the preferred American term.{{cite book |last=Dethloff |first=Henry C. |title=Suddenly Tomorrow Came... A History of the Johnson Space Center |publisher=National Aeronautics and Space Administration |year=1993 |author-link=Henry C. Dethloff |pages=23–24 |chapter=Chapter 2: The Commitment to Space |isbn=978-1502753588 |chapter-url=http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/suddenly_tomorrow/suddenly.htm |archive-date=31 January 2009 |access-date=19 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090131081956/http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/suddenly_tomorrow/suddenly.htm |url-status=live }} When the Soviet Union launched the first man into space, Yuri Gagarin in 1961, they chose a term which anglicizes to "cosmonaut".

File:Astronaut Groups 1 and 2 - S63-01419.jpg, McDivitt, Young, See, Conrad, Borman, Armstrong, Stafford, Lovell. Front row: Cooper, Grissom, Carpenter, Schirra, Glenn, Shepard, Slayton.]]

A professional space traveler is called an astronaut.{{cite web |url = http://www.thespacerace.com/glossary/index.php?term=54 |title = TheSpaceRace.com – Glossary of Space Exploration Terminology |access-date=28 December 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080105031754/http://www.thespacerace.com/glossary/index.php?term=54 |archive-date=5 January 2008|url-status=dead }} The first known use of the term "astronaut" in the modern sense was by Neil R. Jones in his 1930 short story "The Death's Head Meteor". 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) by J.-H. Rosny aîné, the word astronautique (astronautics) was used. The word may have been inspired by "aeronaut", an older term for an air traveler first applied in 1784 to balloonists. An early use of "astronaut" in a non-fiction publication is Eric Frank Russell's poem "The Astronaut", appearing in the November 1934 Bulletin of the British Interplanetary Society.Ingham, John L.: Into Your Tent, Plantech (2010): page 82.

The first known formal use of the term astronautics in the scientific community was the establishment of the annual International Astronautical Congress in 1950, and the subsequent founding of the International Astronautical Federation the following year.{{cite web|title=IAF History |publisher=International Astronautical Federation |author=IAF |date=16 August 2010 |url=http://www.iafastro.org/index.html?title=History |access-date=16 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719102624/https://www.iafastro.org/index.html?title=History |archive-date=19 July 2011 }}

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.{{cite web |last = Dismukes |first = Kim – NASA Biography Page Curator |title = Astronaut Biographies |publisher = Johnson Space Center, NASA |date = 15 December 2005 |url = http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/ |access-date = 6 March 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070307132816/http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/ |archive-date= 7 March 2007 |url-status=live }} The European Space Agency similarly uses the term astronaut for members of its Astronaut Corps.{{cite web |title = The European Astronaut Corps |publisher = ESA |author=ESA |date = 10 April 2008 |url = http://www.esa.int/esaHS/ESA75G0VMOC_astronauts_0.html |access-date = 28 December 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081220054618/http://www.esa.int/esaHS/ESA75G0VMOC_astronauts_0.html |archive-date= 20 December 2008 |url-status=live }}

File:RIAN archive 888102 Soviet cosmonauts.jpg, Titov, Bykovsky, Yegorov, Popovich; front row: Komarov, Gagarin, Tereshkova, Nikolayev, Feoktistov, Belyayev.]]

{{Main|Soviet space program}}

{{Main list|List of cosmonauts}}

By convention, an astronaut employed by the Russian Federal Space Agency (or its predecessor, the Soviet space program) is called a cosmonaut in English texts. The word is an Anglicization of kosmonavt ({{langx|ru|link=no|космонавт}} {{IPA|ru|kəsmɐˈnaft}}).{{cite book |last1 = Kotlyakov |first1 = Vladimir |last2 = Komarova |first2 = Anna |title = Elsevier's Dictionary of Geography: in English, Russian, French, Spanish and German |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=6DhWw_cYLicC | year = 2006| publisher = Elsevier |isbn = 978-0-08-048878-3 | page = 49}} Other countries of the former Eastern Bloc use variations of the Russian kosmonavt, such as the {{langx|pl|kosmonauta}} (although Poles also used {{lang|pl|astronauta}}, and the two words are considered synonyms).{{cite web |title = Astronauta a kosmonauta |publisher = PWN |author = Katarzyna Kłosińska, University of Warsaw |date = 16 December 2016 |url = https://sjp.pwn.pl/poradnia/haslo/Astronauta-a-kosmonauta;17329.html |access-date = 6 April 2019 |archive-date = 27 August 2023 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230827223036/https://sjp.pwn.pl/poradnia/haslo/Astronauta-a-kosmonauta;17329.html |url-status = live }}

Coinage of the term {{lang|ru|космонавт}} has been credited to Soviet aeronautics (or "cosmonautics") pioneer Mikhail Tikhonravov (1900–1974).{{cite book |last=Brzezinski |first=Matthew |author-link=Matthew Brzezinski |year=2007 |title=Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the Hidden Rivalries That Ignited the Space Age |location=New York |publisher=Henry Holt & Co. |page=108 |isbn=978-0-8050-8147-3 }}{{cite book |first = Mike |last = Gruntman |author-link = Mike Gruntman |year=2004 |title = Blazing the Trail: The Early History of Spacecraft and Rocketry |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=2XY9KXxF8OEC&pg=PA326 |location=Reston, VA |publisher=AIAA |page=326 |isbn=9781563477058 }} The first cosmonaut was Soviet Air Force pilot Yuri Gagarin, also the first person in space. He was part of the first six Soviet citizens, with German Titov, Yevgeny Khrunov, Andriyan Nikolayev, Pavel Popovich, and Grigoriy Nelyubov, who were given the title of pilot-cosmonaut in January 1961.{{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=zk_MkKERUokC&pg=332 |title=Russia's Cosmonauts: Inside the Yuri Gagarin Training Center |last1=Hall|first1=Rex D.|last2=David|first2=Shayler|last3=Vis|first3=Bert|date=5 October 2007 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=9780387739755}} Valentina Tereshkova was the first female cosmonaut and the first and youngest woman to have flown in space with a solo mission on the Vostok 6 in 1963.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/space/11871598/Russia-forgot-to-send-toothbrush-with-first-woman-in-space.html |title=Russia forgot to send toothbrush with first woman in space |last=Knapton |first=Sarah |newspaper=Daily Telegraph |date=17 September 2015 |access-date=16 June 2019 |issn=0307-1235 |archive-date=24 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324104013/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/space/11871598/Russia-forgot-to-send-toothbrush-with-first-woman-in-space.html |url-status=live }} On 14 March 1995,{{cite book |url = https://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/shuttle-mir/references/documents/mirfinal.pdf#page=61 |title = Mir Mission Chronicle: November 1994 – August 1996 |last = McDonald |first = Sue |date = December 1998 |publisher = NASA |pages = 52–53 |id = NASA/TP-98-207890 |access-date = 16 June 2019 |archive-date = 16 July 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190716183315/https://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/shuttle-mir/references/documents/mirfinal.pdf#page=61 |url-status = dead }} Norman Thagard became the first American to ride to space on board a Russian launch vehicle, and thus became the first "American cosmonaut".{{cite news |title = Illustrious alumnus: Former astronaut Thagard recounts thrills of spaceflight |url = https://www.utsouthwestern.edu/newsroom/articles/year-2017/former-astronaut-alumnus-thagard.html |website = www.utsouthwestern.edu |publisher = Utsouthwestern.edu |date = 4 October 2017 |access-date = 18 August 2019 |archive-date = 18 August 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190818063030/https://www.utsouthwestern.edu/newsroom/articles/year-2017/former-astronaut-alumnus-thagard.html |url-status = dead }}{{cite news |title=Astronaut-Physician Counting Down to Blastoff Aboard Russian Craft : Shuttle: Dr. Norman Thagard will become the first American to leave the Earth aboard a Soyuz rocket. Mission will take them to the Mir space station. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-01-22-mn-22879-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=22 January 1995 |archive-date=18 August 2019 |access-date=18 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190818063027/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-01-22-mn-22879-story.html |url-status=live }}

File:Taikonauts 2010 Somalia stamps.jpg

{{Main|People's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps|China Manned Space Program}}

{{Main list|List of Chinese astronauts}}

In Chinese, the term {{lang|zh-Latn|Yǔ háng yuán}} ({{lang|zh-cn|宇航员}}, "cosmos navigating personnel") is used for astronauts and cosmonauts in general,{{cite web |url = http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/ce/ceka/rus/xwdt/t216370.htm |trans-title = Yang Liwei, the first Chinese astronaut who has made China's first manned space flight |title = Ян Ливэй – первый китайский космонавт, совершивший первый в Китае пилотируемый космический полет |date=13 October 2005 |access-date=4 October 2007 |website = fmprc.gov.cn |language=ru |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070929125754/http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/ce/ceka/rus/xwdt/t216370.htm |archive-date=29 September 2007 }}{{cite web |url = http://ru.china-embassy.org/rus/xwdt/t73142.htm |title = Chinese embassy in Russia press-release |access-date=4 October 2007 |website = ru.china-embassy.org |language=ru |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927002145/http://ru.china-embassy.org/rus/xwdt/t73142.htm |archive-date= 27 September 2007 |url-status=live}} while {{lang|zh-Latn|hángtiān yuán}} ({{lang|zh-CN|航天员}}, "navigating celestial-heaven personnel") is used for Chinese astronauts. Here, {{lang|zh-Latn|hángtiān}} ({{lang|zh-CN|航天}}, literally "heaven-navigating", or spaceflight) is strictly{{Cite web |title=The Axiom-1 crew launches today—are these guys tourists, astronauts, or what? – Ars Technica OpenForum |url=https://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1483555&start=120 |access-date=2022-06-17 |website=arstechnica.com| date=8 April 2022 }} defined as the navigation of outer space within the local star system, i.e. Solar System. The phrase {{lang|zh-Latn|tàikōng rén}} ({{lang|zh|太空人}}, "spaceman") is often used in Hong Kong and Taiwan.{{cite web |url = https://chinese.yabla.com/chinese-english-pinyin-dictionary.php?define=%E5%A4%AA%E7%A9%BA%E4%BA%BA |title = 太空人 : astronaut... : tài kōng rén | Definition | Mandarin Chinese Pinyin English Dictionary | Yabla Chinese |website = chinese.yabla.com |access-date = 7 August 2015 |archive-date = 3 September 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150903181737/https://chinese.yabla.com/chinese-english-pinyin-dictionary.php?define=%E5%A4%AA%E7%A9%BA%E4%BA%BA |url-status = live }}

The term taikonaut is used by some English-language news media organizations for professional space travelers from China.{{cite web |url = http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-01/26/content_7500262.htm |title = Chinese taikonaut dismisses environment worries about new space launch center |date=26 January 2008 |access-date=25 September 2008 |publisher=China View |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081003201652/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-01/26/content_7500262.htm |archive-date= 3 October 2008 |url-status = dead }} The word has featured in the Longman and Oxford English dictionaries, and the term became more common in 2003 when China sent its first astronaut Yang Liwei into space aboard the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft.{{cite web |url = http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-09/25/content_10111749.htm |title = "Taikonauts" a sign of China's growing global influence |date=25 September 2008 |access-date=25 September 2008 |work=China View |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080928044453/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-09/25/content_10111749.htm |archive-date=28 September 2008 |url-status=dead }} This is the term used by Xinhua News Agency in the English version of the Chinese People's Daily since the advent of the Chinese space program.{{cite web |url = http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90776/90881/6507790.html |title=Chinese taikonaut debuts spacewalk |access-date=28 September 2008 |website=People's Daily Online |author=Xinhua |year=2008|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080930071226/http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90776/90881/6507790.html |archive-date= 30 September 2008 |url-status= live}} The origin of the term is unclear; as early as May 1998, Chiew Lee Yih ({{lang|zh-Hant|趙裡昱}}) from Malaysia used it in newsgroups.{{cite web |first = Lee Yih |last = Chiew |date = 19 May 1998 |title = Google search of "taikonaut" sort by date |url = https://groups.google.com/groups/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=taikonaut&btnG=Search&as_mind=1&as_minm=1&as_miny=1981&as_maxd=24&as_maxm=5&as_maxy=1998&as_drrb=b&sitesearch= |work = Usenet posting |publisher = Chiew Lee Yih |access-date = 27 September 2008 |archive-date = 26 August 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130826104919/http://groups.google.com/groups/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=taikonaut&btnG=Search&as_mind=1&as_minm=1&as_miny=1981&as_maxd=24&as_maxm=5&as_maxy=1998&as_drrb=b&sitesearch= |url-status = live }}{{cite web |first = Lee Yih |last = Chiew |date = 10 March 1996 |title = Chiew Lee Yih misspelled "taikonaut" 2 years before it first appear |url = https://groups.google.com/group/alt.chinese.text/browse_thread/thread/a7f02b9489c59c5b/dd9e7a1b78d7d5c7?hl=en&lnk=st&q=taikonout#dd9e7a1b78d7d5c7 |work = Usenet posting |publisher = Chiew Lee Yih |access-date = 27 September 2008 |archive-date = 16 February 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090216093802/http://groups.google.com/group/alt.chinese.text/browse_thread/thread/a7f02b9489c59c5b/dd9e7a1b78d7d5c7?hl=en&lnk=st&q=taikonout#dd9e7a1b78d7d5c7 |url-status = live }}{{primary source inline|date=November 2024}}

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 professional astronauts on missions coordinated by those two agencies.

File:Expedition 47 Soyuz TMA-19M Landing (NHQ201606180038).jpg astronaut Timothy Kopra]]

While no nation other than Russia (and previously the Soviet Union), the United States, and China have launched a crewed spacecraft, several other nations have sent people into space in cooperation with one of these countries, e.g. the Soviet-led Interkosmos program. Inspired partly by these missions, other synonyms for astronaut have entered occasional English usage. For example, the term spationaut ({{langx|fr|link=no|spationaute}}) is sometimes used to describe French space travelers, from the Latin word {{lang|la|spatium}} for "space"; the Malay term {{lang|ms|angkasawan}} (deriving from angkasa meaning 'space') was used to describe participants in the Angkasawan program (note its similarity with the Indonesian term antariksawan). Plans of the Indian Space Research Organisation to launch its crewed Gaganyaan spacecraft have spurred at times public discussion if another term than astronaut should be used for the crew members, suggesting vyomanaut (from the Sanskrit word {{lang|sa-Latn|vyoman}} meaning 'sky' or 'space') or gagannaut (from the Sanskrit word {{lang|sa-Latn|gagan}} for 'sky').{{cite web | last=Ananthaswamy | first=Anil | title=Wanted: four 'vyomanauts' for Indian spaceflight | website=New Scientist | date=January 5, 2010 | url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18338-wanted-four-vyomanauts-for-indian-spaceflight/ | access-date=February 20, 2022 | archive-date=20 February 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220191920/https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18338-wanted-four-vyomanauts-for-indian-spaceflight/amp/ | url-status=live }}{{cite web | last=Mukunth | first=Vasudevan | title=Infinite in All Directions: A Science Workshop and Why Vyomanaut Is Not Cool | website=The Wire | date=August 23, 2018 | url=https://m.thewire.in/article/the-sciences/infinite-in-all-directions-a-science-workshop-and-why-vyomanaut-is-not-cool | access-date=February 20, 2022 | archive-date=20 February 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220191922/https://m.thewire.in/article/the-sciences/infinite-in-all-directions-a-science-workshop-and-why-vyomanaut-is-not-cool | url-status=live }} In Finland, the NASA astronaut Timothy Kopra, a Finnish American, has sometimes been referred to as {{lang|fi|sisunautti}}, from the Finnish word {{lang|fi|sisu}}.{{cite web | title = "Sisunautti" haaveilee uudesta Suomen-matkasta | publisher = MTV3 | author = MTV Uutiset | date = 1 November 2009 | url = https://www.mtv.fi/uutiset/ulkomaat/artikkeli/sisunautti-haaveilee-uudesta-suomen-matkasta/2174370#gs.XWGxvao | access-date = 10 April 2018 | archive-date = 16 August 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180816195043/https://www.mtv.fi/uutiset/ulkomaat/artikkeli/sisunautti-haaveilee-uudesta-suomen-matkasta/2174370#gs.XWGxvao | url-status = dead }} Across Germanic languages, the word for "astronaut" typically translates to "space traveler", as it does with German's Raumfahrer, Dutch's ruimtevaarder, Swedish's rymdfarare, and Norwegian's romfarer.

For its 2022 Astronaut Group, the European Space Agency envisioned recruiting an astronaut with a physical disability, a category they called "parastronauts", with the intention but not guarantee of spaceflight.{{Cite web|title=Parastronaut feasibility project|url=https://www.esa.int/About_Us/Careers_at_ESA/ESA_Astronaut_Selection/Parastronaut_feasibility_project|access-date=18 February 2021|website=ESA|archive-date=16 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210216114610/https://www.esa.int/About_Us/Careers_at_ESA/ESA_Astronaut_Selection/Parastronaut_feasibility_project|url-status=live}} The categories of disability considered for the program were individuals with lower limb deficiency (either through amputation or congenital), leg length difference, or a short stature (less than {{convert|130|cm|ftin|disp=or}}).{{Cite web|last=Parsonson|first=Andrew|url=https://spacenews.com/parastronaut-sought-as-esa-recruits-its-first-new-astronauts-in-more-than-a-decade/|title='Parastronaut' sought as ESA recruits its first new astronauts in more than a decade|website=SpaceNews|date=16 February 2021|access-date=23 November 2022}} On 23 November 2022, John McFall was selected to be the first ESA parastronaut;{{cite web|last=Amos|first=Jonathan|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-63730022|title=Disabled man joins European Space Agency's astronaut programme|work=BBC News|date=23 November 2022|access-date=23 November 2022|archive-date=23 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123154013/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-63730022|url-status=live}} he has rejected the use of the term.{{cite web|website=The Guardian |last1=Devlin |first1=Hannah |title=British Paralympian is first person with physical disability cleared for space mission |date=14 February 2025 |access-date=17 March 2025 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/feb/14/british-paralympian-first-person-physical-disability-space-mission }}

As of 2021 in the United States, astronaut status is conferred on a person depending on the authorizing agency:

• one who flies in a vehicle above {{convert|50|mi}} for NASA or the military is considered an astronaut (with no qualifier)
• one who flies in a vehicle to the International Space Station in a mission coordinated by NASA and Roscosmos is a spaceflight participant
• one who flies above {{convert|50|mi}} in a non-NASA vehicle as a crewmember and demonstrates activities during flight that are essential to public safety, or contribute to human space flight safety, is considered a commercial astronaut by the Federal Aviation Administration{{cite web |title=Commercial Astronaut Wings Program |url=https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/programs/astronaut_wings/ |website=United States Department of Transportation |publisher=Office of Commercial Space Transportation |access-date=16 July 2019 |archive-date=16 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190716015139/https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/programs/astronaut_wings/ |url-status=live }}
• one who flies to the International Space Station as part of a "privately funded, dedicated commercial spaceflight on a commercial launch vehicle dedicated to the mission ... to conduct approved commercial and marketing activities on the space station (or in a commercial segment attached to the station)" is considered a private astronaut by NASA{{cite web |last1=Elburn |first1=Darcy |title=Private Astronaut Missions |url=https://www.nasa.gov/leo-economy/private-astronaut-missions |website=nasa.gov |date=29 May 2019 |publisher=National Aeronautics and Space Administration |access-date=16 July 2019 |archive-date=14 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614124620/https://www.nasa.gov/leo-economy/private-astronaut-missions/ |url-status=dead }} (as of 2020, nobody has yet qualified for this status)
• a generally-accepted but unofficial term for a paying non-crew passenger who flies a private non-NASA or military vehicles above {{convert|50|mi}} is a space tourist (as of 2020{{update inline|date=January 2023}}, nobody has yet qualified for this status{{Dubious|date=April 2025}})

On July 20, 2021, the FAA issued an order redefining the eligibility criteria to be an astronaut in response to the private suborbital spaceflights of Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson.{{cite web |title=FAA Order 8800.2 |url=https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Order/FAA_Order_8800.2.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Order/FAA_Order_8800.2.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |website=Federal Aviation Administration |access-date=30 July 2021}}{{cite news |last1=Rivera |first1=Josh |title=Sorry, Jeff Bezos, you're still not an astronaut, according to the FAA |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2021/07/25/jeff-bezos-federal-aviation-administration-astronaut-wings/8087596002/ |access-date=30 July 2021 |work=USA Today |date=July 25, 2021 |archive-date=29 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210729092720/https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2021/07/25/jeff-bezos-federal-aviation-administration-astronaut-wings/8087596002/ |url-status=live }} The new criteria states that one must have "[d]emonstrated activities during flight that were essential to public safety, or contributed to

human space flight safety" to qualify as an astronaut. This new definition excludes Bezos and Branson.

{{See also|Spaceflight records|Timeline of space travel by nationality}}

File:Gagarin in Sweden.jpg, first human in space (1961)]]

File:RIAN archive 612748 Valentina Tereshkova.jpg, first woman in space (1963)]]

File:Neil Armstrong pose.jpg, first human to walk on the Moon (1969)]]

File:VladimirRemek.jpg, a Czechoslovak who became the first non-American and non-Soviet cosmonaut in space (1978)]]

File:Yang Liwei.jpg, first person sent into space by China (2003)]]

File:Astronaut Nationalities.svg

The first human in space was Soviet Yuri Gagarin, who was launched on 12 April 1961, aboard Vostok 1 and orbited around the Earth for 108 minutes. The first woman in space was Soviet Valentina Tereshkova, who launched on 16 June 1963, aboard Vostok 6 and orbited Earth for almost three days.

Alan Shepard became the first American and second person in space on 5 May 1961, on a 15-minute sub-orbital flight aboard Freedom 7. The first American to orbit the Earth was John Glenn, aboard Friendship 7 on 20 February 1962. The first American woman in space was Sally Ride, during Space Shuttle Challenger's mission STS-7, on 18 June 1983.{{cite web|url=http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/ride-sk.html|title=Sally K. Ride, PhD Biography|access-date=4 October 2007 |publisher=NASA|year=2006|author=NASA| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071016072450/http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/ride-sk.html| archive-date= 16 October 2007 | url-status= live}} In 1992, Mae Jemison became the first African American woman to travel in space aboard STS-47.

Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov was the first person to conduct an extravehicular activity (EVA), (commonly called a "spacewalk"), on 18 March 1965, on the Soviet Union's Voskhod 2 mission. This was followed two and a half months later by astronaut Ed White who made the first American EVA on NASA's Gemini 4 mission.{{cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/k-4/features/F_Going_Out.html|title=Educator Features: Going Out for a Walk|work=NASA|access-date=27 November 2015|archive-date=5 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151205071323/http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/k-4/features/F_Going_Out.html|url-status=live}}

The first crewed mission to orbit the Moon, Apollo 8, included American William Anders who was born in Hong Kong, making him the first Asian-born astronaut in 1968.

The Soviet Union, through its Intercosmos program, allowed people from multiple other countries, mostly Soviet-allied but also including from France and Austria, to participate in Soyuz TM-7 and Soyuz TM-13, respectively. This made the Czechoslovak Vladimír Remek the first cosmonaut/astronaut from a country other than the Soviet Union or the United States to fly to space in 1978 on a Soyuz-U rocket.{{cite web|url=http://www.astronautix.com/astros/remek.htm|title=Vladimir Remek Czech Pilot Cosmonaut|access-date=4 October 2007 |publisher=Encyclopedia Astronautica|year=2007|author=Encyclopedia Astronautica| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071013100622/http://astronautix.com/astros/remek.htm| archive-date= 13 October 2007 | url-status= dead}}

On 23 July 1980, Pham Tuan of Vietnam became the first Asian in space when he flew aboard Soyuz 37.{{cite web|url=http://www.astronautix.com/flights/salt6ep7.htm|title=Salyut 6 EP-7|access-date=4 October 2007 |publisher=Encyclopedia Astronautica|year=2007|author=Encyclopedia Astronautica| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070930195347/http://www.astronautix.com/flights/salt6ep7.htm| archive-date= 30 September 2007 | url-status= dead}} Also in 1980, Cuban Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez became the first person of black African descent, as well as the first Hispanic astronaut. In 1983, Guion Bluford became the first African American to fly into space. In April 1985, the Taiwanese-American Taylor Wang became the first ethnic Chinese person in space.{{cite web |url=http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/wang-t.html|title=Taylor G. Wang Biography| access-date=4 October 2007 | publisher=NASA| year=1985| author=NASA| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070919003409/http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/wang-t.html| archive-date= 19 September 2007 | url-status= live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.astronautix.com/astros/wang.htm|title=Taylor Wang| access-date=4 October 2007 |publisher=Encyclopedia Astronautica|year=2007|author=Encyclopedia Astronautica| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070827132048/http://www.astronautix.com/astros/wang.htm| archive-date= 27 August 2007 | url-status= dead}}

With the increase of seats on the Space Shuttle, the U.S. also began taking international astronauts. In 1983, Ulf Merbold of West Germany became the first non-US citizen to fly in a US spacecraft. In 1984, Marc Garneau became the first of eight Canadian astronauts to fly in space (through 2010).{{cite web|url=http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/missions/default.asp|title=Space Missions|first=Government of Canada, Canadian Space Agency, Directions of communications, Information services and new|last=media|date=4 September 2014|access-date=9 October 2010|archive-date=25 April 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100425060056/http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/missions/default.asp|url-status=live}} The first person born in Africa to fly in space was Patrick Baudry of France, in 1985.{{cite web|url=http://www.astronautix.com/astros/tamendez.htm|title=Tamayo-Mendez|access-date=4 October 2007 |publisher=Encyclopedia Astronautica|year=2007|author=Encyclopedia Astronautica| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070930214432/http://www.astronautix.com/astros/tamendez.htm| archive-date= 30 September 2007 | url-status= dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.astronautix.com/astros/baudry.htm|title=Baudry|access-date=4 October 2007 |publisher=Encyclopedia Astronautica|year=2007|author=Encyclopedia Astronautica| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071013100617/http://astronautix.com/astros/baudry.htm| archive-date= 13 October 2007 | url-status= dead}} In same NASA flight as the Frenchman was the Saudi Arabian Prince Sultan Bin Salman Bin AbdulAziz Al-Saud, who became the first Muslim and Arab astronaut.{{cite web|url=http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/al-saud.html|title=Sultan Bin Salman Al-Saud Biography|access-date=1 May 2011 |publisher=NASA|year=2006|author=NASA| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110525174947/http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/al-saud.html| archive-date= 25 May 2011 | url-status= live}}

In 1985, Rodolfo Neri Vela became the first Mexican-born person in space.{{cite web|url=http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/nerivela-r.html|title=Rodolfo Neri Vela (PhD) Biography|access-date=4 October 2007 |publisher=NASA|year=1985|author=NASA| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071027235759/http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/nerivela-r.html| archive-date= 27 October 2007 | url-status= live}} In 1991, Helen Sharman became the first Briton to fly in space.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/18/newsid_2380000/2380649.stm|title=1991: Sharman becomes first Briton in space|access-date=4 October 2007 |work=BBC News|author=BBC News | date=18 May 1991| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070905072027/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/18/newsid_2380000/2380649.stm| archive-date= 5 September 2007 | url-status= live}}

In 2001, American Dennis Tito became the first space tourist, after paying a fee for a trip aboard Russian spacecraft Soyuz. In 2002, another private tourist, the South African Mark Shuttleworth, became the first citizen of an African country to fly into space.{{cite web|url=http://www.africaninspace.com/home/mission/logs/1/20020610.shtml|title=First African in Space|access-date=4 October 2007|publisher=HBD|year=2002|author=africaninspace.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013043906/http://africaninspace.com/home/mission/logs/1/20020610.shtml|archive-date=13 October 2007|url-status=dead}}

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

The youngest person to reach space is Oliver Daemen, who was 18 years and 11 months old when he made a suborbital spaceflight on Blue Origin NS-16.{{cite web |title=Blue Origin's Bezos reaches space on 1st passenger flight |url=https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2021/jul/20/bezos-riding-own-rocket-companys-1st-flight-people/ |website=Arkansas Online |access-date=20 July 2021 |language=en |date=20 July 2021 |archive-date=20 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210720123413/https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2021/jul/20/bezos-riding-own-rocket-companys-1st-flight-people/ |url-status=live }} Daemen, who was a commercial passenger aboard the New Shepard, broke the record of Soviet cosmonaut Gherman Titov, who was 25 years old when he flew Vostok 2. Titov remains the youngest human to reach orbit; he rounded the planet 17 times. Titov was also the first person to suffer space sickness and the first person to sleep in space, twice.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/6/newsid_2944000/2944638.stm |title=1961: Russian cosmonaut spends day in space |access-date=4 October 2007 |work=BBC News |author=BBC News |date=6 August 2007 |archive-date=3 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171103222148/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/6/newsid_2944000/2944638.stm |url-status=live }}{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-sep-22-me-25219-story.html |title=Obituaries—Gherman S. Titov; Cosmonaut Was Second Man to Orbit Earth |access-date=4 February 2015 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=22 September 2000 |author=Robyn Dixon |archive-date=30 November 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241130143903/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-sep-22-me-25219-story.html |url-status=live }}

The oldest person to reach space is William Shatner, who was 90 years old when he made a suborbital spaceflight on Blue Origin NS-18.{{cite news|url=https://www.space.com/how-space-tourism-could-affect-older-people|title=William Shatner oldest astronaut at 90 – Here's how space tourism could affect older people|date=October 19, 2021|work=Space.com|archive-date=17 July 2022|access-date=17 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717035433/https://www.space.com/how-space-tourism-could-affect-older-people|url-status=live}} The oldest person to reach orbit is John Glenn, one of the Mercury 7, who was 77 when he flew on STS-95.{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/about/bios/glennbio.html |title=John Herschel Glenn, Jr. (Colonel, USMC, Ret.) NASA Astronaut |access-date=4 October 2007 |publisher=NASA |year=2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014013832/http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/about/bios/glennbio.html |archive-date=14 October 2007 |url-status=live}}

The longest time spent in space was by Russian Valeri Polyakov, who spent 438 days there.

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 farthest distance from Earth an astronaut has traveled was {{convert|401056|km|0|abbr=on}}, when Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise went around the Moon during the Apollo 13 emergency.

The first civilian in space was Valentina Tereshkova{{cite web|url=http://www.adm.yar.ru/english/section.aspx?section_id=74 |title=Valentina Vladimirovna TERESHKOVA |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110423074712/http://www.adm.yar.ru/english/section.aspx?section_id=74 |archive-date=23 April 2011 }} aboard Vostok 6 (she also became the first woman in space on that mission).

Tereshkova was only honorarily inducted into the USSR's Air Force, which did not accept female pilots at that time. A month later, Joseph Albert Walker became the first American civilian in space when his X-15 Flight 90 crossed the {{convert|100|km|nmi|sp=us|abbr=off}} line, qualifying him by the international definition of spaceflight.{{Cite web|url=http://www.fourmilab.ch/fourmilog/archives/2006-08/000736.html|title=Puzzle: Civilians in Space (Fourmilog: None Dare Call It Reason)|website=www.fourmilab.ch|access-date=3 May 2010|archive-date=19 August 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100819002224/http://www.fourmilab.ch/fourmilog/archives/2006-08/000736.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.space.com/adastra/adastra_joewalker_061127.html|title=Higher & Faster: Memorial Fund Established for X-15 pilot Joseph A. Walker|website=Space.com|date=27 November 2006|access-date=3 May 2010|archive-date=13 July 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070713235129/http://www.space.com/adastra/adastra_joewalker_061127.html|url-status=live}} Walker had joined the US Army Air Force but was not a member during his flight.

The first people in space who had never been a member of any country's armed forces were both Konstantin Feoktistov and Boris Yegorov aboard Voskhod 1.

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/lichtenberg-bk.html|title=Byron K. Lichtenberg Biography|access-date=4 October 2007 |publisher=NASA|year=2002|author=NASA| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070919000449/http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/lichtenberg-bk.html| archive-date= 19 September 2007 | url-status= live}} In December 1990, Toyohiro Akiyama became the first paying space traveler and the first journalist in space 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".{{cite web|url=http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/GAL114/SpaceRace/sec500/sec535.htm|title=Paying for a Ride|access-date=4 October 2007 |publisher=Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum|year=2007|author=Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071026073942/http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/gal114/SpaceRace/sec500/sec535.htm| archive-date= 26 October 2007 | url-status= live}}{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/sci_tech/2001/mir/1990.stm|title=Mir Space Station 1986–2001|access-date=4 October 2007|work=BBC News|year=1990|author=BBC News|archive-date=25 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225030425/http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/sci_tech/2001/mir/1990.stm|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/international/english/akiyama_toyohiro.htm|title=Akiyama|access-date=4 October 2007 |publisher=Spacefacts|year=1990|author=Spacefacts| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070930033534/http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/international/english/akiyama_toyohiro.htm| archive-date= 30 September 2007 | url-status= live}} Akiyama suffered severe space sickness during his mission, which affected his productivity.

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

{{further|Space tourism}}

The first person to fly on an entirely privately funded mission was Mike Melvill, piloting SpaceShipOne flight 15P on a suborbital journey, although he was a test pilot employed by Scaled Composites and not an actual paying space tourist.{{cite web|url=http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/SS1_pilot_040620.html |title=Pilot Announced on Eve of Private Space Mission |access-date=4 October 2007 |publisher=Space.com |year=2004 |author=Leonard David |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060213031153/http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/SS1_pilot_040620.html |archive-date=13 February 2006 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.roycecarlton.com/speakers/melvill.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011134507/http://www.roycecarlton.com/speakers/melvill.html|archive-date=11 October 2007|title=Michael Melvill, First Civilian Astronaut, SpaceShipOne|access-date=4 October 2007 |publisher=Royce Carlton Inc.|year=2007|url-status=usurped|author=Royce Carlton Inc}} Jared Isaacman was the first person to self-fund a mission to orbit, commanding Inspiration4 in 2021.{{Cite news |last=Overbye |first=Dennis |date=2021-09-21 |title=What a Fungus Reveals About the Space Program |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/21/science/fungus-pilobolus-space-astronauts.html |access-date=2023-12-17 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=6 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220406125224/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/21/science/fungus-pilobolus-space-astronauts.html |url-status=live }} Nine others have paid Space Adventures to fly to the International Space Station:

1. Dennis Tito (American): 28 April – 6 May 2001
2. Mark Shuttleworth (South African): 25 April – 5 May 2002
3. Gregory Olsen (American): 1–11 October 2005
4. Anousheh Ansari (Iranian / American): 18–29 September 2006
5. Charles Simonyi (Hungarian / American): 7–21 April 2007, 26 March – 8 April 2009
6. Richard Garriott (British / American): 12–24 October 2008
7. Guy Laliberté (Canadian): 30 September 2009 – 11 October 2009
8. Yusaku Maezawa and Yozo Hirano (both Japanese): 8 – 24 December 2021

File:Gemini 5 Elliot See water egress training.jpg during water egress training with NASA (1965)]]

{{Main|Astronaut training}}

{{See also|Astronaut ranks and positions}}

The first NASA astronauts were selected for training in 1959.{{cite web|url=http://aerospacescholars.jsc.nasa.gov/HAS/cirr/ss/3/3.cfm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070819111027/http://aerospacescholars.jsc.nasa.gov/HAS/cirr/ss/3/3.cfm|archive-date=19 August 2007|title=Astronaut Candidate Training|access-date=4 October 2007 |publisher=NASA|year=2006|url-status=dead|author=NASA}} Early in the space program, military jet test piloting and engineering training were often cited as prerequisites for selection as an astronaut at NASA, although neither John Glenn nor Scott Carpenter (of the Mercury Seven) had any university degree, in engineering or any other discipline at the time of their selection. Selection was initially limited to military pilots.{{cite web|url=http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/astronauts/training.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970215192726/http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/astronauts/training.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 February 1997 |title=Selection and Training of Astronauts |access-date=4 October 2007 |publisher=NASA |year=1995 |author=NASA }}{{cite book| last = Nolen| first = Stephanie| title = Promised The Moon: The Untold Story of the First Women in the Space Race| year = 2002| publisher = Penguin Canada| location = Toronto| isbn = 978-0-14-301347-1| page = [https://archive.org/details/promisedmoonunto0000nole_k7a8/page/235 235]| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/promisedmoonunto0000nole_k7a8/page/235}} The earliest astronauts for both the US and the USSR tended to be jet fighter pilots, and were often test pilots.

Once selected, NASA astronauts go through twenty months of training in a variety of areas, including training for extravehicular activity in a facility such as NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. Astronauts-in-training (astronaut candidates) may also experience short periods of weightlessness (microgravity) in an 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. 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 conducted from Edwards Air Force Base.

Astronauts in training must learn how to control and fly the Space Shuttle; further, it is vital that they are familiar with the International Space Station so they know what they must do when they get there.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/F_Astronauts_in_Training.html|title=NASA – Astronauts in Training|website=www.nasa.gov|others=Denise Miller: MSFC|access-date=3 April 2018|archive-date=9 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109013220/https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/F_Astronauts_in_Training.html|url-status=dead}}

{{hatnote|Unless otherwise noted, the following data are incorporated from the Astronaut Requirements article by NASA}}

• The candidate must be a citizen of the United States.
• The candidate must complete a master's degree in a STEM field, including engineering, biological science, physical science, computer science or mathematics.
• The candidate must have at least two years of related professional experience obtained after degree completion or at least 1,000 hours pilot-in-command time on jet aircraft.
• The candidate must be able to pass the NASA long-duration flight astronaut physical.
• The candidate must also have skills in leadership, teamwork and communications.

The master's degree requirement can also be met by:

• Two years of work toward a doctoral program in a related science, technology, engineering or math field.
• A completed Doctor of Medicine or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree.
• Completion of a nationally recognized test pilot school program.

{{Main|Educator Astronaut Project}}

• Applicants must have a bachelor's degree with teaching experience, including work at the kindergarten through twelfth grade level. An advanced degree, such as a master's degree or a doctoral degree, is not required, but is strongly desired.{{cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/sep/HQ_07196_astronaut_recruitment.html|title=NASA Opens Applications for New Astronaut Class|access-date=4 October 2007 |publisher=NASA|year=2007|author=NASA| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070927081538/http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/sep/HQ_07196_astronaut_recruitment.html| archive-date= 27 September 2007 | url-status= live}}

Mission Specialist Educators, or "Educator Astronauts", were first selected in 2004; as of 2007, there are three NASA Educator astronauts: Joseph M. Acaba, Richard R. Arnold, and Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger.{{cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/preparingtravel/ascan2004.html|title='Next Generation of Explorers' Named|access-date=4 October 2007|publisher=NASA|year=2004|author=NASA|archive-date=26 November 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071126075519/http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/preparingtravel/ascan2004.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web| url=http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2004/oct/HQ_n04160_new_ascans.html| title=NASA's New Astronauts Meet The Press| access-date=4 October 2007| publisher=NASA| year=2004| author=NASA| archive-date=6 January 2008| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080106093240/http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2004/oct/HQ_n04160_new_ascans.html| url-status=live}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/morgan.html|title=Barbara Radding Morgan – NASA Astronaut biography|access-date=4 October 2007 |publisher=NASA|year=2007|author=NASA| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071002195136/http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/morgan.html| archive-date= 2 October 2007 | url-status= live}}

The Educator Astronaut program is a successor to the Teacher in Space program from the 1980s.{{cite web|url=http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/space_educator_030203.html |title=NASA Assures That Teachers Will Fly in Space |access-date=4 October 2007 |publisher=Space.com |year=2007 |author=Tariq Malik |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061125035402/http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/space_educator_030203.html |archive-date=25 November 2006 }}{{cite web|url=http://wwwedu.ssc.nasa.gov/neap.asp |title=Educator Astronaut Program |access-date=4 October 2007 |publisher=NASA |year=2005 |author=NASA |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516050936/https://wwwedu.ssc.nasa.gov/neap.asp |archive-date=16 May 2008 }}

{{See also|Effect of spaceflight on the human body|Space medicine}}

File:Padalka Fincke ISS ultrasound.jpg performing ultrasound on Michael Fincke during ISS Expedition 9]]

Astronauts are susceptible to a variety of health risks including decompression sickness, barotrauma, immunodeficiencies, loss of bone and muscle, loss of eyesight, orthostatic intolerance, sleep disturbances, and radiation injury.{{cite news |last=Chang |first=Kenneth |title=Beings Not Made for Space |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/28/science/bodies-not-made-for-space.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/28/science/bodies-not-made-for-space.html |archive-date=2022-01-01 |url-access=limited |date=27 January 2014 |work=The New York Times |access-date=27 January 2014 }}{{cbignore}}{{cite magazine |last=Mann |first=Adam |title=Blindness, Bone Loss, and Space Farts: Astronaut Medical Oddities |url=https://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/07/medicine-psychology-space/ |date=23 July 2012 |magazine=Wired |access-date=23 July 2012 |archive-date=25 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725135246/http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/07/medicine-psychology-space/ |url-status=live }}{{cite journal |author=Mader, T. H. |title=Optic Disc Edema, Globe Flattening, Choroidal Folds, and Hyperopic Shifts Observed in Astronauts after Long-duration Space Flight |url=http://www.ophsource.org/periodicals/ophtha/article/S0161-6420(11)00564-1/abstract |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130113070701/http://www.ophsource.org/periodicals/ophtha/article/S0161-6420(11)00564-1/abstract |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 January 2013 |year=2011 |journal=Ophthalmology |volume=118 |issue=10 |pages=2058–2069 |doi=10.1016/j.ophtha.2011.06.021 |pmid=21849212 |s2cid=13965518 |display-authors=etal }}{{cite web |last=Puiu |first=Tibi |title=Astronauts' vision severely affected during long space missions |url=http://www.zmescience.com/medicine/astronaut-eyesight-damage-weightlessness-3214143/ |date=9 November 2011 |publisher=zmescience.com |access-date=9 February 2012 |archive-date=13 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111213062133/http://www.zmescience.com/medicine/astronaut-eyesight-damage-weightlessness-3214143/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2012/02/09/pkg-zarrella-astronaut-vision.cnn |title=Male Astronauts Return With Eye Problems (video) |date=9 February 2012 |publisher=CNN News |access-date=25 April 2012 |archive-date=30 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101230111923/http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2012/02/09/pkg-zarrella-astronaut-vision.cnn |url-status=live }}{{cite web|author=Space Staff|title=Spaceflight Bad for Astronauts' Vision, Study Suggests|url=http://www.space.com/14876-astronaut-spaceflight-vision-problems.html|date=13 March 2012|publisher=Space.com|access-date=14 March 2012|archive-date=6 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106180914/https://www.space.com/14876-astronaut-spaceflight-vision-problems.html|url-status=live}}{{cite journal |author=Kramer, Larry A. |title=Orbital and Intracranial Effects of Microgravity: Findings at 3-T MR Imaging |url=http://radiology.rsna.org/content/early/2012/03/07/radiol.12111986.abstract?sid=8682af1e-b07f-4ad9-8453-ee319bad639e |journal=Radiology |doi=10.1148/radiol.12111986 |date=13 March 2012 |access-date=14 March 2012 |volume=263 |issue=3 |pages=819–827 |display-authors=etal |doi-access=free |pmid=22416248 |archive-date=13 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191213030150/http://radiology.rsna.org/content/early/2012/03/07/radiol.12111986.abstract?sid=8682af1e-b07f-4ad9-8453-ee319bad639e |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://english.pravda.ru/science/earth/17-12-2008/106841-soviet_cosmonaut-0/ |title=Soviet cosmonauts burnt their eyes in space for USSR's glory |date=17 December 2008 |publisher=Pravda.Ru |access-date=25 April 2012 |archive-date=28 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151028063252/http://english.pravda.ru/science/earth/17-12-2008/106841-soviet_cosmonaut-0/ |url-status=live }}{{cite magazine |last=Fong |first=Kevin |title=The Strange, Deadly Effects Mars Would Have on Your Body |url=https://www.wired.com/opinion/2014/02/happens-body-mars/ |date=12 February 2014 |magazine=Wired |access-date=12 February 2014 |archive-date=25 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140325002634/http://www.wired.com/opinion/2014/02/happens-body-mars/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Howell |first=Elizabeth |title=Brain Changes in Space Could Be Linked to Vision Problems in Astronauts |url=https://www.seeker.com/space/brain-changes-in-space-could-be-linked-to-vision-problems-in-astronauts |date=3 November 2017 |work=Seeker |access-date=3 November 2017 |archive-date=26 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191226052634/https://www.seeker.com/space/brain-changes-in-space-could-be-linked-to-vision-problems-in-astronauts |url-status=live }} A variety of large scale medical studies are being conducted in space via the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) to address these issues. Prominent among these is the Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Microgravity Study in which astronauts (including former ISS commanders Leroy Chiao and Gennady Padalka) perform ultrasound scans under the guidance of remote experts to diagnose and potentially treat hundreds of medical conditions in space. This study's techniques are now being applied to cover professional and Olympic sports injuries as well as ultrasound performed by non-expert operators in medical and high school students. It is anticipated that remote guided ultrasound will have application on Earth in emergency and rural care situations, where access to a trained physician is often rare.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/experiments/ADUM.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091029061057/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/experiments/ADUM.html|url-status=dead|title=NASA – Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Microgravity|archive-date=29 October 2009}}{{cite journal | last1 = Rao | first1 = S. | last2 = van Holsbeeck | first2 = L. | last3 = Musial | first3 = J. L. | last4 = Parker | first4 = A. | last5 = Bouffard | first5 = J. A. | last6 = Bridge | first6 = P. | last7 = Jackson | first7 = M. | last8 = Dulchavsky | first8 = S. A. | year = 2008 | title = A Pilot Study of Comprehensive Ultrasound Education at the Wayne State University School of Medicine | journal = Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine | volume = 27 | issue = 5 | pages = 745–749 | doi = 10.7863/jum.2008.27.5.745 | pmid = 18424650 | doi-access = free }}Evaluation of Shoulder Integrity in Space: First Report of Musculoskeletal US on the International Space Station: http://radiology.rsna.org/content/234/2/319.abstract {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130820224222/http://radiology.rsna.org/content/234/2/319.abstract |date=20 August 2013 }}

A 2006 Space Shuttle experiment found that Salmonella typhimurium, a bacterium that can cause food poisoning, became more virulent when cultivated in space.{{cite web |last=Caspermeyer |first=Joe |title=Space flight shown to alter ability of bacteria to cause disease |url=https://biodesign.asu.edu/news/space-flight-shown-alter-ability-bacteria-cause-disease |date=23 September 2007 |work=Arizona State University |access-date=14 September 2017 |archive-date=14 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170914172718/https://biodesign.asu.edu/news/space-flight-shown-alter-ability-bacteria-cause-disease |url-status=dead }} More recently, in 2017, bacteria were found to be more resistant to antibiotics and to thrive in the near-weightlessness of space.{{cite web |last=Dvorsky |first=George |title=Alarming Study Indicates Why Certain Bacteria Are More Resistant to Drugs in Space |url=https://gizmodo.com/alarming-study-indicates-why-certain-bacteria-are-more-1805666249 |date=13 September 2017 |work=Gizmodo |access-date=14 September 2017 |archive-date=14 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170914011750/http://gizmodo.com/alarming-study-indicates-why-certain-bacteria-are-more-1805666249 |url-status=live }} Microorganisms have been observed to survive the vacuum of outer space.{{cite journal | title=ERA-experiment "space biochemistry" | journal=Advances in Space Research | volume=16 | issue=8 | year=1995 | pages=119–129 | doi=10.1016/0273-1177(95)00280-R | pmid=11542696 | last1=Dose | first1=K. | last2=Bieger-Dose | first2=A. | last3=Dillmann | first3=R. | last4=Gill | first4=M. | last5=Kerz | first5=O. | last6=Klein | first6=A. | last7=Meinert | first7=H. | last8=Nawroth | first8=T. | last9=Risi | first9=S. | last10=Stridde | first10=C. | bibcode=1995AdSpR..16h.119D | url=http://publications.ub.uni-mainz.de/opus/volltexte/2008/11364/pdf/11364.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://publications.ub.uni-mainz.de/opus/volltexte/2008/11364/pdf/11364.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live }}{{Dead link|date=October 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite journal | title=Biological responses to space: results of the experiment "Exobiological Unit" of ERA on EURECA I | journal=Adv. Space Res. | year=1995 | author1=Horneck G. |author2=Eschweiler, U. |author3=Reitz, G. |author4=Wehner, J. |author5=Willimek, R. |author6=Strauch, K. | volume=16 | issue=8 | pages=105–18| pmid=11542695 | bibcode=1995AdSpR..16h.105H |doi=10.1016/0273-1177(95)00279-N}}

On 31 December 2012, a NASA-supported study reported that human spaceflight may harm the brain and accelerate the onset of Alzheimer's disease.{{cite journal |last1=Cherry |first1=Jonathan D. |last2=Frost |first2=Jeffrey L. |last3=Lemere |first3=Cynthia A. |last4=Williams |first4=Jacqueline P. |last5=Olschowka |first5=John A. |last6=O'Banion |first6=M. Kerry |last7=Liu |first7=Bin |title=Galactic Cosmic Radiation Leads to Cognitive Impairment and Increased Aβ Plaque Accumulation in a Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0053275 |volume=7 |page=e53275 |journal=PLoS ONE |issue=12 |year=2012 |editor1-last=Feinstein |editor1-first=Douglas L |pmid=23300905 |pmc=3534034|bibcode = 2012PLoSO...753275C |doi-access=free }}{{cite web |author=Staff |title=Study Shows that Space Travel is Harmful to the Brain and Could Accelerate Onset of Alzheimer's |url=http://spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=39650 |date=1 January 2013 |publisher=SpaceRef |access-date=7 January 2013 |archive-date=21 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200521052054/http://spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=39650/ |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |last=Cowing |first=Keith |author-link=Keith Cowing |title=Important Research Results NASA Is Not Talking About (Update) |url=http://nasawatch.com/archives/2013/01/important-resea.html |date=3 January 2013 |publisher=NASA Watch |access-date=7 January 2013 |archive-date=21 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200521052054/http://nasawatch.com/archives/2013/01/important-resea.html/ |url-status=live }}

In October 2015, the NASA Office of Inspector General issued a health hazards report related to space exploration, including a human mission to Mars.{{cite news |last=Dunn |first=Marcia |title=Report: NASA needs better handle on health hazards for Mars |url=http://apnews.excite.com/article/20151029/us-sci-space-travel-health-6dfd5b2c76.html |date=29 October 2015 |work=AP News |access-date=30 October 2015 |archive-date=30 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190130041700/http://apnews.excite.com/article/20151029/us-sci-space-travel-health-6dfd5b2c76.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web |author=Staff |title=NASA's Efforts to Manage Health and Human Performance Risks for Space Exploration (IG-16-003) |url=https://oig.nasa.gov/audits/reports/FY16/IG-16-003.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://oig.nasa.gov/audits/reports/FY16/IG-16-003.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |date=29 October 2015 |work=NASA |access-date=29 October 2015 }}

Over the last decade, flight surgeons and scientists at NASA have seen a pattern of vision problems in astronauts on long-duration space missions. The syndrome, known as visual impairment intracranial pressure (VIIP), has been reported in nearly two-thirds of space explorers after long periods spent aboard the International Space Station (ISS).{{cite web |title=Astronaut Vision Changes Offer Opportunity for More Research |website=NASA |date=9 February 2012 |url=https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/Astronaut_Vision.html |access-date=5 September 2020 |archive-date=20 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200820023031/https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/Astronaut_Vision.html |url-status=dead }}

On 2 November 2017, scientists reported that significant changes in the position and structure of the brain have been found in astronauts who have taken trips in space, based on MRI studies. Astronauts who took longer space trips were associated with greater brain changes.{{cite journal |author=Roberts, Donna R.|display-authors=et al |title=Effects of Spaceflight on Astronaut Brain Structure as Indicated on MRI |date=2 November 2017 |journal=New England Journal of Medicine |volume=377 |issue=18 |pages=1746–1753 |doi=10.1056/NEJMoa1705129 |pmid=29091569 |s2cid=205102116 |doi-access=free }}{{cite web |last=Foley |first=Katherine Ellen |title=Astronauts who take long trips to space return with brains that have floated to the top of their skulls |url=https://qz.com/1119668/space-travel-changes-astronauts-brains/ |date=3 November 2017 |work=Quartz |access-date=3 November 2017 |archive-date=28 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191228193239/https://qz.com/1119668/space-travel-changes-astronauts-brains/ |url-status=live }}

Being in space can be physiologically deconditioning on the body. It can affect the otolith organs and adaptive capabilities of the central nervous system. Zero gravity and cosmic rays can cause many implications for astronauts.{{Cite journal|last=YOUNG|first=LAURENCE R.|date=1 May 1999|title=Artificial Gravity Considerations for a Mars Exploration Mission|journal=Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences|volume=871|issue=1 OTOLITH FUNCT|pages=367–378|doi=10.1111/j.1749-6632.1999.tb09198.x|pmid=10372085|issn=1749-6632|bibcode=1999NYASA.871..367Y|s2cid=32639019}}

In October 2018, NASA-funded researchers found that lengthy journeys into outer space, including travel to the planet Mars, may substantially damage the gastrointestinal tissues of astronauts. The studies support earlier work that found such journeys could significantly damage the brains of astronauts, and age them prematurely.{{cite news |last=Griffin |first=Andrew |title=Travelling to Mars and deep into space could kill astronauts by destroying their guts, finds Nasa-funded study – Previous work has shown that astronauts could age prematurely and have damaged brain tissue after long journeys |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/nasa-mars-deep-space-journey-guts-gi-digestive-animal-study-gastrointestinal-health-a8563926.html |date=2 October 2018 |work=The Independent |access-date=2 October 2018 |archive-date=24 May 2022 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/nasa-mars-deep-space-journey-guts-gi-digestive-animal-study-gastrointestinal-health-a8563926.html |url-status=live }}

Researchers in 2018 reported, after detecting the presence on the International Space Station (ISS) of five Enterobacter bugandensis bacterial strains, none pathogenic to humans, that microorganisms on ISS should be carefully monitored to continue assuring a medically healthy environment for astronauts.{{cite web |author=BioMed Central |title=ISS microbes should be monitored to avoid threat to astronaut health |url=https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-11/bc-ims112018.php |date=22 November 2018 |work=EurekAlert! |access-date=25 November 2018 |archive-date=26 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181126005739/https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-11/bc-ims112018.php |url-status=dead }}{{cite journal |author=Singh, Nitin K.|display-authors=et al |title=Multi-drug resistant Enterobacter bugandensis species isolated from the International Space Station and comparative genomic analyses with human pathogenic strains |date=23 November 2018 |journal=BMC Microbiology |volume=18 |issue=1 |page=175 |doi=10.1186/s12866-018-1325-2 |pmc=6251167 |pmid=30466389 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2018BMCMb..18..175S }}

A study by Russian scientists published in April 2019 stated that astronauts facing space radiation could face temporary hindrance of their memory centers. While this does not affect their intellectual capabilities, it temporarily hinders formation of new cells in brain's memory centers. The study conducted by Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) concluded this after they observed that mice exposed to neutron and gamma radiation did not impact the rodents' intellectual capabilities.{{Cite web|url=https://www.timesnownews.com/health/article/radiation-can-impact-astronauts-memory-temporarily-heres-all-you-need-to-know/397216|title=Radiation can impact astronauts' memory temporarily: Here's all you need to know {{!}} Health Tips and News|website=www.timesnownews.com|date=9 April 2019 |access-date=10 April 2019}}

A 2020 study conducted on the brains of eight male Russian cosmonauts after they returned from long stays aboard the International Space Station showed that long-duration spaceflight causes many physiological adaptions, including macro- and microstructural changes. While scientists still know little about the effects of spaceflight on brain structure, this study showed that space travel can lead to new motor skills (dexterity), but also slightly weaker vision, both of which could possibly be long lasting. It was the first study to provide clear evidence of sensorimotor neuroplasticity, which is the brain's ability to change through growth and reorganization.{{cite web |title=Space travel can lead to new motor skills but impaired vision, according to a new study of cosmonaut brains |author=Aria Bendix |date=4 September 2020 |website=Business Insider |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/space-travel-can-lead-to-new-motor-skills-but-impaired-vision-according-to-a-new-study-of-cosmonaut-brains/ar-BB18Iu69? |access-date=5 September 2020 |archive-date=4 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204063503/https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/space-travel-can-lead-to-new-motor-skills-but-impaired-vision-according-to-a-new-study-of-cosmonaut-brains/ar-BB18Iu69 |url-status=live }}{{cite journal |title=Macro- and microstructural changes in cosmonauts' brains after long-duration spaceflight |date=4 September 2020 |journal=Science Advances |doi=10.1126/sciadv.aaz9488 |last1=Jillings |first1=Steven |last2=Van Ombergen |first2=Angelique |last3=Tomilovskaya |first3=Elena |last4=Rumshiskaya |first4=Alena |last5=Litvinova |first5=Liudmila |last6=Nosikova |first6=Inna |last7=Pechenkova |first7=Ekaterina |last8=Rukavishnikov |first8=Ilya |last9=Kozlovskaya |first9=Inessa B. |last10=Manko |first10=Olga |last11=Danilichev |first11=Sergey |last12=Sunaert |first12=Stefan |last13=Parizel |first13=Paul M. |last14=Sinitsyn |first14=Valentin |last15=Petrovichev |first15=Victor |last16=Laureys |first16=Steven |last17=Zu Eulenburg |first17=Peter |last18=Sijbers |first18=Jan |last19=Wuyts |first19=Floris L. |last20=Jeurissen |first20=Ben |volume=6 |issue=36 |pages=eaaz9488 |pmid=32917625 |pmc=7473746 |bibcode=2020SciA....6.9488J }}

{{main|Space food}}

File:AstronautsEatingBurgers.jpg

An astronaut on the International Space Station requires about {{cvt|830|g|oz|lk=on}} mass of food per meal each day (inclusive of about {{cvt|120|g|oz|disp=or}} packaging mass per meal).

Space Shuttle astronauts worked with nutritionists to select menus that appealed to their individual tastes. Five months before flight, menus were selected and analyzed for nutritional content by the shuttle dietician. Foods are tested to see how they will react in a reduced gravity environment. Caloric requirements are determined using a basal energy expenditure (BEE) formula. On Earth, the average American uses about {{convert|35|USgal|L}} of water every day. On board the ISS astronauts limit water use to only about {{convert|3|USgal|L|spell=in}} per day.{{cite web|title=Human Needs: Sustaining Life During Exploration|url=http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/everydaylife/jamestown-needs-fs.html|website=www.nasa.gov|access-date=20 July 2014|archive-date=5 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140905134247/http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/everydaylife/jamestown-needs-fs.html|url-status=live}}

File:NASA - Astropin.png

In Russia, cosmonauts are awarded Pilot-Cosmonaut of the Russian Federation upon completion of their missions, often accompanied with the award of Hero of the Russian Federation. This follows the practice established in the USSR where cosmonauts were usually awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

At NASA, those who complete astronaut candidate training 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, after participation on a spaceflight. The United States Air Force also presents an Astronaut Badge to its pilots who exceed {{convert|50|mi|km}} in altitude.

{{Main list|List of spaceflight-related accidents and incidents#Astronaut fatalities}}

File:amf space mirror.jpg

{{As of|2020}}, eighteen astronauts (fourteen men and four women) have died during four space flights. By nationality, thirteen were American, four were Russian (Soviet Union), and one was Israeli.

{{As of|2020}}, eleven people (all men) have died training for spaceflight: eight Americans and three Russians. Six of these were in crashes of training jet aircraft, one drowned during water recovery training, and four were due to fires in pure oxygen environments.

Astronaut David Scott left a memorial consisting of a statuette titled Fallen Astronaut on the surface of the Moon during his 1971 Apollo 15 mission, along with a list of the names of eight of the astronauts and six cosmonauts known at the time to have died in service.{{cite web |title = Sculpture, Fallen Astronaut |url = http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?object=nasm_A19860035000 |website = airandspace.si.edu |publisher = Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum |access-date = 17 July 2014 |archive-date = 28 July 2014 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140728032237/http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?object=nasm_A19860035000 |url-status = dead }}

The Space Mirror Memorial, which stands on the grounds of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, is maintained by the Astronauts Memorial Foundation and commemorates the lives of the men and women who have died during spaceflight and during training in the space programs of the United States. In addition to twenty NASA career astronauts, the memorial includes the names of an X-15 test pilot, a U.S. Air Force officer who died while training for a then-classified military space program, and a civilian spaceflight participant.

{{Columns-list|colwidth=30em|

• Airman
• Aquanaut
• Cosmonautics Day
• List of astronauts by name
• List of astronauts by year of selection
• List of cosmonauts
• List of human spaceflights
• List of people who have walked on the Moon
• List of space travelers by name
• List of space travelers by nationality
• List of spaceflight records
• Lists of fictional astronauts
• Lists of spacewalks and moonwalks
• Mercury 13 – 13 inactive women astronauts
• Shirley Thomas – author, Men of Space (1960–1968)
• Space suit
• U.S. space exploration history on U.S. stamps
• United States Astronaut Hall of Fame
• Women in space
• Yuri's Night

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{{Reflist}}

{{Wiktionary|cosmonaut|spationaut|astronaut|taikonaut}}

{{Commons category|Astronauts}}

• {{cite web |url = https://www.nasa.gov/hrp/bodyinspace |title = The Human Body in Space |website = NASA |access-date = 9 January 2021 }}
• [http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/outreach/jobsinfo/astronaut101.html NASA: How to become an astronaut 101] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200118030211/https://spaceflight.nasa.gov/outreach/jobsinfo/astronaut101.html |date=18 January 2020 }}
• [http://astronauts.nasa.gov/content/InternationalSpaceAgencies.htm List of International partnership organizations] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926092741/http://astronauts.nasa.gov/content/InternationalSpaceAgencies.htm |date=26 September 2015 }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20160820191601/http://www.astronautix.com/p/phantomcosmonaut.html Encyclopedia Astronautica: Phantom cosmonauts]
• [http://www.collectspace.com/sightings/ collectSPACE: Astronaut appearances calendar]
• [http://www.spacefacts.de/ spacefacts Spacefacts.de]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070208224003/http://space.kursknet.ru/cosmos/english/other/stat_kk.sht Manned astronautics: facts and figures]
• [http://astronauts.nasa.gov/content/broch00.htm Astronaut Candidate Brochure online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722120636/http://astronauts.nasa.gov/content/broch00.htm |date=22 July 2012 }}

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{{People currently in space}}

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{{U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame}}

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Category:Science occupations

Category:1959 introductions