An astronaut is someone who has undergone specific training to fly into space. The word astronaut comes from the Greek words “star” and “sailor.” In geographical terms, an astronaut is an individual from the United States, Canada, Japan, and Europe, traveling into space.
Soviet and Russian individuals trained to go into space are called “cosmonauts.” And those from China are called “taikonauts.” In effect, they all complete very similar duties, depending on the government programs they are instructed to follow. For example, this could be analyzing rock samples, conducting experiments in space, and maintaining equipment on the space station.
In 2004, when a private-funded space program came into existence, a new classification of space traveler emerged: the commercial astronaut.
A brief history of astronauts
So far, 567 people have gone into space, with 503 pioneers men and 64 women. Peggy Whitson held the record for a woman’s longest single space flight at 289 days until this was broken by Christine Koch’s flight that lasted a whopping 328 days!
Did you know? Women weren’t always welcome at NASA. So when Hillary Clinton wrote to NASA asking if she could be an astronaut when she was a young girl, she was told that astronauts were men-only. Luckily, times have changed.
Not all astronauts are called astronauts
The term astronaut refers explicitly to those space travelers trained and funded by the United States, Canada, Japan, and Europe governments. The term ” aeronaut ” probably inspired astronauts, referring to hot air balloon travelers in the 1780s. By the early 1930s, the word astronaut was used in stories and poems to describe characters traveling in spacecrafts.
NASA uses the term astronaut to describe any member of a space shuttle mission or crew member traveling into space. The same applies to European, Japanese, and Canadian space agencies.
Cosmonaut
The Russian Federal Space Agency chose to use the word “cosmonaut” to refer to its space travelers. The word kosmos means space in Russian, hence the logical terminology. When the Soviet Union existed, other countries within the Soviet Bloc also used the word cosmonaut.
Taikonaut
The Western media use the term ” taikonaut ” to describe Chinese space travelers. However, the authentic Chinese term is Yu hang yuan, which means space universe navigating personnel; this is quite a mouthful, so this was anglicized to taikonaut. This term is now the go-to vocabulary to describe Chinese space travelers across Chinese media and became more prominent after China entered into the space sphere after sending Yang Liwei into space in 2003.
The space race
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Soviet Union and the United States were conducting a Cold War. It meant that while a full-blown war wasn’t raging, the threat of war was always on the horizon. The two ideologies of the Soviet Union (communism) and the United States (democracy) competed for nearly everything. And this transcended into the space race!
The Soviet Union won the first space race battle by getting the first human into space in April 1961; this was cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. However, Alan Shepard, a United States astronaut, didn’t make it into play until a month later.
The Soviet Union launched a second blow by conducting the first spacewalk in 1965 when Alexei Leonov conducted experiments as part of the Voskhod 2 mission. The United States was lagging again, with Ed White completing his space walk four months later as part of NASA’s Gemini 4 mission.
The U.S. government was becoming frustrated at slipping behind in the space race and made getting a human on the Moon their sole focus. It was completed in 1969, when Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins made it to the Moon as part of the Apollo 11 mission; this was the pinnacle of the space race of the 1960s. Once this goal was complete, more space missions ensued, but there was less enthusiasm from the American people, so the funding decreased.
After the Moon Landing
Astronauts were still being trained at NASA even though funding was low. The Soviet Union spent the 1980s focusing on developing the Mir space station, which orbited the Earth and was the central docking station from missions until 1996. This space station orbited the Earth continually and was a base for Russian cosmonauts.
When the Cold War ended, Russia opened the Mir space station to astronauts and taikonauts from all nations; this made scientific space endeavors more collaborative, and a new era of space travel developed. No longer was it a race but a shared goal to discover new knowledge about the cosmos.
When the Mir space station’s orbit decayed, it was replaced by the ISS or the International Space Station. This space station orbits Earth every 93 minutes and is a giant orbiting scientific laboratory to conduct experiments, collect samples, complete spacewalks, and maintains equipment. It is split into two halves, one operated by Russia and the other by the United States and other nations.
Fun facts about astronauts
To inspire your mini space enthusiasts, check out these ten fun facts about astronauts with your class. They will spark discussion, curiosity, and maybe even a research project.
- Astronauts must wear a particular type of diaper. These aren’t baby-style diapers; these are technically called “Maximum Absorbency Garments.” When astronauts complete long spacewalks or wear heavy equipment and suits, it’s not easy to unbuckle to go to the bathroom. So they rely on these diapers for hygiene and safety reasons.
- In space, bone and muscle wastage is a real risk. The atmosphere and environment are unnatural for humans, so exercise is crucial to maintain muscle mass and bone density. Astronauts are tasked with exercising for at least two hours every day.
- Astronauts stretch in space. They grow 3% taller in microgravity. However, when they return to Earth, their height returns to normal after three or four months.
- Charles Duke, an astronaut on the Apollo 16 mission, landed on the Moon in 1972. He left a picture of himself with his family sitting on a bench on the Moon’s surface. On the back of the photograph, he signed and dated the picture. Unfortunately, it remains on the Moon until this day and will take millions of years to degrade because of the lack of an authentic atmosphere.
- Becoming an astronaut is a grueling process. In 2017, 18,000 people applied to NASA to become one. These are individuals with top-class degrees, experience, stamina, intelligence, and fitness. However, the selection process takes 18 months, and out of these 18,000, only 8 – 14 candidates are chosen to complete full astronaut training.
- In space, if an astronaut cries, their tears do not roll down their face because there is zero gravity. Instead, the tears collect on their face and create large tear globules!
- When wearing their helmets, itches on the face can be nearly impossible to scratch. So astronaut Clayton Anderson devised a solution by placing a small piece of Velcro inside the helmet. It then became easy to scratch his face against it.
- Alan Shepard was the first astronaut to play golf on the Moon. He teed off, and the ball flew through the air for nearly a mile!
- Guion Bluford became the first African-American astronaut in 1983 as he became a mission specialist for the Challenger space shuttle. Before this, he was a pilot in the Air Force and flew 144 missions during the Vietnam War.
