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U.S. Space Shuttle astronaut Bruce McCandless II using a manned maneuvering unit. Picture courtesy NASAAn astronaut, cosmonaut, or taikonaut is a person who travels into space, or who makes a career of doing so. The criteria for determining who has achieved human spaceflight vary (see edge of space). In the United States, people who travel above an altitude of 50 miles (approximately 80 kilometers) are designated as astronauts. The FAI defines spaceflight as over 100 km. To October 14, 2004, a total of 443 humans had spent a total of 27,472 crew-days in space (by the US definition) including 99 crew-days of spacewalks. 437 people qualify under the FAI definition. Those who have achieved this are said to hold astronaut wings. Astronauts from at least 32 countries have gone into space.
1 International variations
By convention, an astronaut employed by the Russian Aviation and Space Agency or its Soviet predecessor is called a cosmonaut. "Cosmonaut" is an anglification of the Russian word космонавт (kosmonavt), which in turn derives from the Greek words kosmos, meaning "universe" and nautes, meaning "sailor". For the most part, "cosmonaut" and "astronaut" are synonyms in both languages, and the usage of choice on both sides is often dictated by political reasons. However in the United States, the term "astronaut" is typically applied to the individual as soon as training begins, while in Russia, an individual is not labelled a cosmonaut until successful space flight. On March 14, 1995 astronaut Norman ThagardNorman Earl Thagard (born July 3, 1943) is an astronaut for NASA. Early life He was born in Marianna, Florida, but considers Jacksonville, Florida, to be his hometown. Married to the former Rex Kirby Johnson of South Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. They have became the first American to ride to space on-board a Russian launch vehicle, arguably becoming the first American cosmonaut in the process.
The term taikonaut is sometimes used in English for astronauts from ChinaThis article is on the geographic and cultural entity. For other meanings, see China (disambiguation). China ( Traditional Chinese: , Simplified Chinese: , Hanyu Pinyin: Zhongguo, Wade-Giles: Chung-kuo) is a country in continental East Asia with some oute by Western news media. The term was coined in May 1998 by Chiew Lee Yih from MalaysiaThe Federation of Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. It consists of two geographical regions divided by the South China Sea: Peninsular Malaysia on the Malay Peninsula is bordered to the north by Thailand and to the south by Singapore; East Malaysia, who used it first in newsgroupA newsgroup is a repository, usually within the Usenet system, for messages posted from many users at different locations. The term is somewhat confusing, because it is usually a discussion group. Newsgroups are technically distinct from, but functionallys. Almost simultaneously, Chen Lan coined it for use in the Western mediaFor other uses, of the word Media see media (disambiguation). The media is the whole body of communications that reach large numbers of the public via radio, television, movies, magazines, newspapers and the World Wide Web. The term was coined in the 1920 based on the term "tŕikong" (太空), ChineseThe Chinese language (/, /, or ; pinyin: hany, huay, or zhongwen) is a member of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. Although most Chinese view the many varieties of spoken Chinese as a single language, regional variations in spoken language are compara for spaceFor other meanings of the term space see space. Outer space (also called just space , as a name for a region, refers to the relatively empty parts of the Universe, outside the atmospheres of celestial bodies. The term outer space is used to distinguish it. In Chinese itself, however, the term yuhangyuan (宇航員 yǔháng yuán) ("space navigator") has long been used and refers to astronauts and cosmonauts, and the closest term using taikong is taikongren, which literally means space human. Official English text issued by the Chinese government uses the term "astronaut." It is unclear whether the Chinese apply the honorific at training or successful mission completion.
