- published: 21 Jun 2016
- views: 41835
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft. While generally reserved for professional space travelers, the terms are sometimes applied to anyone who travels into space, including scientists, politicians, journalists, and tourists.
Until 2002, astronauts were sponsored and trained exclusively by governments, either by the military, or by civilian space agencies. With the sub-orbital flight of the privately funded SpaceShipOne in 2004, a new category of astronaut was created: the commercial astronaut.
The criteria for what constitutes human spaceflight vary. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) Sporting Code for astronautics recognizes only flights that exceed an altitude of 100 kilometers (62 mi). In the United States, professional, military, and commercial astronauts who travel above an altitude of 50 miles (80 km) are awarded astronaut wings.
As of June 20, 2011, a total of 523 people from 38 countries have reached 100 km (62 mi) or more in altitude, of which 520 reached low Earth orbit or beyond. Of these, 24 people have traveled beyond Low Earth orbit, to either lunar or trans-lunar orbit or to the surface of the moon; three of the 24 did so twice: Jim Lovell, John Young and Eugene Cernan. The three astronauts who have not reached low Earth orbit are Joe Walker, Mike Melvill and Brian Binnie.
Space Is Trying To Kill Us! How Astronauts Survive
Chris Hadfield demonstrates how astronauts wash their hands in zero-g
Rachel Platten - Astronauts (with lyrics) HD
Astronauts Gone Wild
How Astronauts Put on Space Suits
How do Astronauts Live Eat Sleep and use the Bathroom in Space
Astronauts tripping on the surface of the Moon HD
Karen Nyberg Shows How You Wash Hair in Space
How Astronauts Train Underwater at NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Lab
Five Little Astronauts
Atom heart lover, where have you been?
A soul without body, a crown without king
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing
Stroke the boy with the rotten skin
Your mind is an ocean, your heart is a shore
My soul is a desert, I still want some more
The cold wind is wailing of sadness and hope
We're crawling on all fours, leaving this road
Drunken astronauts in space, perfect moves in perfect
grace
We are pilots without aim, we're like paintings in the
rain
Heart and soul will lose the war, the mind will dominate
it all
Silent impacts in my mind, we will find a place to die
Atom heart lover, when will we rise?
A life whithout meaning, a truth between lies
Too much knowledge is a murderous thing
Kill the man with the silver ring
Your will is a castle, your hate is a storm
My life is a wasteland, this time I feel torn
The old man is wailing a poem of trust