Until 2002, astronauts were sponsored and trained exclusively by governments, either by the military or by civilian space agencies. Since 1961, 600 astronauts have flown in space. In China, the People's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps astronauts and their foreign counterparts are all officially called hángtiānyuán ( 航天员, meaning "heaven navigator" or literally " heaven-sailing staff"). Comparatively recent developments in crewed spaceflight made by China have led to the rise of the term taikonaut (from the Mandarin "tàikōng" ( 太空), meaning "space"), although its use is somewhat informal and its origin is unclear. However, astronauts fielded by Russia or the Soviet Union are typically known instead as cosmonauts (from the Russian "kosmos" (космос), meaning "space", also borrowed from Greek). "Astronaut" technically applies to all human space travelers regardless of nationality. Although generally reserved for professional space travelers, the term is sometimes applied to anyone who travels into space, including scientists, politicians, journalists, and tourists. NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless II using a Manned Maneuvering Unit outside Space Shuttle Challenger on shuttle mission STS-41-B in 1984Īn astronaut (from the Ancient Greek ἄστρον ( astron), meaning 'star', and ναύτης ( nautes), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. For other uses, see Astronaut (disambiguation) and Cosmonaut (disambiguation).
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