Astronaut

An astronaut, cosmonaut, spationaut or taikonaut (yuhangyuan) 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 (approximately 62 miles). As of October, 2005, a total of 446 humans have reached space according to the U.S. definition (440 people qualify under the FAI definition, while 436 people have reached Earth orbit or beyond). These individuals have spent over 28,000 crew-days (or a cumulative total of 76.7 years) in space including over 100 crew-days of spacewalks. A person who has traveled in space is said to hold astronaut wings. Astronauts from at least 34 countries have gone into space.

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Human spaceflight: Human spaceflight is space exploration with a human crew, and possibly passengers (in contrast to unmanned space missions, which are remotely-controlled or robotic space probes). Traditionally, these endeavours have been referred to as manned space missions, although today some prefer to use the ter...

Edge of space: redirect Kármán line...

United States: :For other uses, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation)....

Astronaut related Images and Photos (experimental)

Astronaut	Astronaut Handbook (Hardcover)	Astronaut Farmer (DVD) (FS/WS)	Astronaut Ice Cream
Astronaut's Wife, The (DVD)	Astronaut Ice Cream Balls	Duran Duran: Astronaut	Duran Duran: Astronaut
The Astronaut Farmer	Astronaut Farmer (WS/FS/VUDU/MONEY/DVD)	Barbie Astronaut Key Chain	Astronaut Walking in Space