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 Spaceship One in 2004, a new category of astronaut was created: the commercial astronaut.
Definition
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. Under the U.S. definition, as of June 20, 2011, 529 people qualify as having reached space, above 50 miles (80 km) altitude. Of eight X-15 pilots who exceeded 50 miles (80 km) in altitude, only one exceeded 100 kilometers (about 62 miles).Space travelers have spent over 30,400 man-days (83 man-years) in space, including over 100 astronaut-days of spacewalks.As of 2008, the man with the longest cumulative time in space is Sergei K. Krikalev, who has spent 803 days, 9 hours and 39 minutes, or 2.2 years, in space. Peggy A. Whitson holds the
record for the most time in space by a woman, 377 days
Terminology
English
In the United States, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and many other English-speaking nations, a professional
space traveler is called an astronaut. The term derives from the Greek words ástron (ἄστρον), meaning "star",
and nautes (ναύτης), meaning "sailor". The first known use of the term "astronaut" in the modern sense was by Neil
R. Jones in his short story "The Death's Head Meteor" in 1930. The word itself had been known earlier. For example,
in Percy Greg's 1880 book Across the Zodiac, "astronaut" referred to a spacecraft. In Les Navigateurs de l'Infini
(1925) of J.-H. Rosny aîné, the word astronautique (astronautic) was used. The word may have been inspired by
"aeronaut", an older term for an air traveler first applied (in 1784) to balloonists. An early use in a non-fiction
publication is Eric Frank Russell's poem "The Astronaut" in the November 1934 Bulletin of the British
Interplanetary Society.
The first known formal use of the term astronautics in the scientific community was the establishment of the annual
International Astronautical Congress in 1950 and the subsequent founding of the International Astronautical
Federation the following year.
NASA applies the term astronaut to any crew member aboard NASA spacecraft bound for Earth orbit or beyond.
NASA also uses the term as a title for those selected to join its Astronaut Corps.The European Space Agency
similarly uses the term astronaut for members of its Astronaut Corps.
Russian
By convention, an astronaut employed by the Russian Federal Space Agency (or its Soviet predecessor) is called a
cosmonaut in English texts. The word is an anglicisation of the Russian word kosmonavt (Russian: космонавт
Russian pronunciation: [kəsmɐˈnaft]), one who works in space outside the Earth′s atmosphere, a space traveller,
which derives from the Greek words kosmos (κόσμος), meaning "universe", and nautes (ναύτης), meaning "sailor".
The Soviet Air Force pilot Yuri Gagarin was the first cosmonaut. A Russian factory worker Valentina Tereshkova
was the first female cosmonaut, as well as arguably the first civilian cosmonaut (see below for a further discussion of
civilians in space). On March 14, 1995, Norman Thagard became the first American to ride to space on board a
Russian launch vehicle, and became the first "American cosmonaut".
Chinese
Official English-language texts issued by the government of the People's Republic of China use astronaut while texts
in Russian use космонавт (kosmonavt). In China, the term for cosmonaut is "yǔhángyuán" (宇 航 员,
"sailing personnel in universe") and for astronaut is "hángtiānyuán" (航 天 员, "sailing personnel in sky") have long
been used for astronauts. The phrase "tàikōng rén" (太 空 人, "spaceman") is often used in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
The term taikonaut is used by some English-language news media organizations for professional space travelers
from China. The word has featured in the Longman and Oxford English dictionaries, the latter of which describes
it as "a hybrid of the Chinese term taikong (space) and the Greek naut (sailor)"; the term became more common in
2003 when China sent its first astronaut Yang Liwei into space aboard the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft. This is the term
used by Xinhua in the English version of the Chinese People's Daily since the advent of the Chinese space
program.[24] The origin of the term is unclear; as early as May 1998, Chiew Lee Yih (趙 裡 昱) from Malaysia,
used it in newsgroups.
Astronaut 3
Other terms
With the rise of space tourism, NASA and the Russian Federal Space Agency agreed to use the term "spaceflight
participant" to distinguish those space travelers from professional astronauts on missions coordinated by those two
agencies.
While no nation other than the Russian Federation (and previously the former the Soviet Union), the United States,
and China has launched a manned spacecraft, several other nations have sent people into space in cooperation with
one of these countries. Inspired partly by these missions, other synonyms for astronaut have entered occasional
English usage. For example, the term spationaut (French spelling: spationaute) is sometimes used to describe French
space travelers, from the Latin word spatium or "space", and the Malay term angkasawan was used to describe
participants in the Angkasawan program. In Hungary the word describing astronauts is űrhajós (from űr meaning
"space" and hajós meaning "sailor".)
Space travel milestones
The first human in space was Soviet Yuri Gagarin, who was launched into space on April 12, 1961 aboard Vostok 1 and orbited around the Earth for 108 minutes. The first woman in space was Russian Valentina Tereshkova, who launched on June 16, 1963 aboard Vostok 6 and orbited Earth for almost three days. Alan Shepard became the first American and second person in space on May 5, 1961 on a 15-minute sub-orbital flight. The first American woman in space was Sally Ride, during Space Shuttle Challenger's mission STS-7, on June 18,
1983. In 1992 Mae Jemison became the first African American woman to travel in space aboard STS-47. The first manned mission to orbit the moon, Apollo 8, included American William Anders who was born in Hong Kong, making him the first Asian-born astronaut in 1968. In April 1985, Taylor Wang became the first ethnic Chinese person in space. On 15 October 2003, Yang Liwei became China's first astronaut on the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft. The Soviet Union, through its Intercosmos program, allowed people from other "socialist" (i.e. Warsaw Pact and other Soviet-allied) countries to fly on its missions. An example is Vladimír Remek, a Czechoslovak, who became the first non-Soviet European in space in 1978 on a Russian Soyuz-U rocket. On July 23, 1980, Pham Tuan of Vietnam became the first Asian in space when he flew aboard Soyuz 37. Also in 1980, Cuban Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez became the first person of Hispanic and black African descent to fly in space, Guion Bluford became the first African American to fly into space. The first person born in Africa to fly in space was Patrick Baudry, in 1985. In 1985, Saudi Arabian Prince Sultan Bin Salman Bin AbdulAziz Al-Saud became the first Arab Muslim astronaut in space.[35] In 1988, Abdul Ahad Mohmand became the first Afghan to reach space, spending nine days aboard the Mir space station.
With the larger number of seats available on the Space Shuttle, the U.S. began taking international astronauts. In
1983, Ulf Merbold of West Germany became the first non-US citizen to fly in a US spacecraft. In 1984, Marc
Garneau became the first of 8 Canadian astronauts to fly in space (through 2010).[37] In 1985, Rodolfo Neri Vela
became the first Mexican-born person in space.In 1991, Helen Sharman became the first Briton to fly in
space. In 2002, Mark Shuttleworth became the first citizen of an African country to fly in space, as a paying
spaceflight participant. In 2003, Ilan Ramon became the first Israeli to fly in space, although he died during a
re-entry accident.
Age milestones
The youngest person to fly in space is Gherman Titov, who was 25 years old when he flew Vostok 2. (Titov was also
the first person to suffer space sickness). The oldest person who has flown in space is John Glenn, who was 77
when he flew on STS-95.
Duration and distance milestones
The longest stay in space thus far has been 438 days, by Russian Valeri Polyakov. As of 2006, the most
spaceflights by an individual astronaut is seven, a record held by both Jerry L. Ross and Franklin Chang-Diaz. The
farthest distance from Earth an astronaut has traveled was 401056 km ( mi), when Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and
Fred Haise went around the Moon during the Apollo 13 emergency.
Civilian and non-government milestones
Depending on the exact definition of 'civilian', the first civilian in space was either Valentina Tereshkova aboard
Vostok 6 (she also became the first woman in space on that mission) or Joseph Albert Walker on X-15 Flight
90 a month later. Tereshkova was only honorarily inducted into the USSR's Air Force, which had no female pilots
whatsoever at that time. Joe Walker had joined the US Army Air Force but was not a member during his flight. The
first people in space who had never been a member of any country's armed forces were both Konstantin Feoktistov
and Boris Yegorov aboard Voskhod 1.
The first non-governmental space traveler was Byron K. Lichtenberg, a researcher from the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology who flew on STS-9 in 1983.In December 1990, Toyohiro Akiyama became the first paying space
traveler as a reporter for Tokyo Broadcasting System, a visit to Mir as part of an estimated $12 million (USD) deal
with a Japanese TV station, although at the time, the term used to refer to Akiyama was "Research
Cosmonaut". Akiyama suffered severe space-sickness during his mission, which affected his
productivity.
The first self-funded space tourist was Dennis Tito on board the Russian spacecraft Soyuz TM-3 on 28 April 2001.
Self-funded travelers
The first person to fly on an entirely privately-funded mission was Mike Melvill, piloting SpaceShipOne flight 15P
on a sub-orbital journey, although he was a test pilot employed by Scaled Composites and not an actual paying space
tourist. Seven others have paid to fly into space:
1. Dennis Tito (American): April 28 – May 6, 2001 (ISS)
2. Mark Shuttleworth (South African): April 25 – May 5, 2002 (ISS)
3. Gregory Olsen (American): October 1–11, 2005 (ISS)
4. Anousheh Ansari (Iranian / American): September 18–29, 2006 (ISS)
5. Charles Simonyi (Hungarian / American): April 7–21, 2007 (ISS), March 26 – April 8, 2009 (ISS)
6. Richard Garriott (American): October 12–24, 2008 (ISS)
7. Guy Laliberté (Canadian): September 30, 2009 – October 11, 2009 (ISS)
Training
The first NASA astronauts were selected for training in 1959.[53] Early in the space program, military jet test piloting
and engineering training were often cited as prerequisites for selection as an astronaut at NASA, although neither
John Glenn nor Scott Carpenter (of the Mercury Seven) had any university degree, in engineering or any other
discipline at the time of their selection. Selection was initially limited to military pilots.[54][55] The earliest astronauts
for both America and Russia tended to be jet fighter pilots, and were often test pilots.
Once selected, NASA astronauts go through 20 months of training in a variety of areas, including training for
extra-vehicular activity in a facility such as NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory.[1][54] Astronauts-in-training may
also experience short periods of weightlessness in aircraft called the "vomit comet", the nickname given to a pair of
modified KC-135s (retired in 2000 and 2004 respectively, and replaced in 2005 with a C-9) which perform parabolic
flights.[53] Astronauts are also required to accumulate a number of flight hours in high-performance jet aircraft. This
is mostly done in T-38 jet aircraft out of Ellington Field, due to its proximity to the Johnson Space Center. Ellington
Field is also where the Shuttle Training Aircraft is maintained and developed, although most flights of the aircraft
are done out of Edwards Air Force Base.
NASA candidacy requirements
• Be citizens of the United States.
• Pass a strict physical examination, and have a near and distant visual acuity correctable to 20/20 (6/6). Blood
pressure, while sitting, must be no greater than 140 over 90.
Commander and Pilot
• A bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics is required.
• At least 1,000 hours flying time as pilot-in-command in jet aircraft. Experience as a test pilot is desirable.
• Height must be 5 ft 2 in to 6 ft 2 in (1.63 to 1.88 m).
• Distant visual acuity must be correctable to 20/20 in each eye.
• The refractive surgical procedures of the eye, PRK (Photorefractive keratectomy) and LASIK, are now allowed,
providing at least 1 year has passed since the date of the procedure with no permanent adverse after effects. For
those applicants under final consideration, an operative report on the surgical procedure will be requested.
Mission Specialist
• A bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics, as well as at least three
years of related professional experience (graduate work or studies) and an advanced degree (master's degree = 1
year or a doctoral degree = 3 years)
• Applicant's height must be 5 ft 2 in to 6 ft 4 in (1.57 to 1.93 m).
Mission Specialist Educator
• Bachelor's degree with teaching experience, including work at thekindergarten through 12th grade level. Advanced degree notrequired, but is desired.
Mission Specialist Educators, or "Educator Astronauts", were first selected in 2004, and as of 2007, there are three NASA Educator astronauts: Joseph M. Acaba, Richard R. Arnold, and Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger.Barbara Morgan, selected as back-up teacher to Christa McAuliffe in 1985, is considered to be the first Educator astronaut by the media, but she trained as a mission specialist.The Educator Astronaut program is a successor to the Teacher in Space program from the 1980s.
Health risks of space travel
Astronauts are susceptible to a variety of health risks including decompression sickness, barotrauma,
immunodeficiencies, loss of bone and muscle, orthostatic intolerance due to volume loss, sleep disturbances, and
radiation injury. A variety of large scale medical studies are being conducted in space via the National Space and
Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) to address these issues. Prominent among these is the Advanced Diagnostic
Ultrasound in Microgravity Study in which astronauts (including former ISS commanders Leroy Chiao and Gennady
Padalka) perform ultrasound scans under the guidance of remote experts to diagnose and potentially treat hundreds
of medical conditions in space. This study's techniques are now being applied to cover professional and Olympic
sports injuries as well as ultrasound performed by non-expert operators in medical and high school students. It is
anticipated that remote guided ultrasound will have application on Earth in emergency and rural care situations,
where access to a trained physician is often rare.
Insignia
In Russia, cosmonauts are awarded Pilot-Cosmonaut of the Russian Federation upon completion of their missions,
often accompanied with the award of Hero of the Russian Federation. This follows the practice established in the
Soviet Union.
At NASA, those who complete astronaut candidate training receive a silver lapel pin. Once they have flown in space,
they receive a gold pin. U.S. astronauts who also have active-duty military status receive a special qualification
badge, known as the Astronaut Badge, after participation on a spaceflight. The United States Air Force also presents
an Astronaut Badge to its pilots who exceed 50 miles (80 km) in altitude.
Deaths
Eighteen astronauts (fourteen men and four women) have lost their lives during four space flights. By nationality, they are 13 Americans (including one with dual Indian citizenship), four Russians (Soviet Union), and one Israeli. Eleven people (all men) have lost their lives training for spaceflight: eight Americans and three Russians. Six of these were in crashes of training jet aircraft, one drowned during water recovery training, and four were due to fires in pure oxygen environments. The Space Mirror Memorial, which stands on the grounds of the John F. Kennedy Space Center Visitor
Complex, commemorates the lives of the men and women who have died during spaceflight and during training in the space programs of the United States. In addition to twenty NASA career astronauts, the memorial includes the names of a U.S. Air Force X-15 test pilot, a U.S. Air Force officer who died while training for a then-classified military space program, and a civilian spaceflight participant.
Definition
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. Under the U.S. definition, as of June 20, 2011, 529 people qualify as having reached space, above 50 miles (80 km) altitude. Of eight X-15 pilots who exceeded 50 miles (80 km) in altitude, only one exceeded 100 kilometers (about 62 miles).Space travelers have spent over 30,400 man-days (83 man-years) in space, including over 100 astronaut-days of spacewalks.As of 2008, the man with the longest cumulative time in space is Sergei K. Krikalev, who has spent 803 days, 9 hours and 39 minutes, or 2.2 years, in space. Peggy A. Whitson holds the
record for the most time in space by a woman, 377 days
Terminology
English
In the United States, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and many other English-speaking nations, a professional
space traveler is called an astronaut. The term derives from the Greek words ástron (ἄστρον), meaning "star",
and nautes (ναύτης), meaning "sailor". The first known use of the term "astronaut" in the modern sense was by Neil
R. Jones in his short story "The Death's Head Meteor" in 1930. The word itself had been known earlier. For example,
in Percy Greg's 1880 book Across the Zodiac, "astronaut" referred to a spacecraft. In Les Navigateurs de l'Infini
(1925) of J.-H. Rosny aîné, the word astronautique (astronautic) was used. The word may have been inspired by
"aeronaut", an older term for an air traveler first applied (in 1784) to balloonists. An early use in a non-fiction
publication is Eric Frank Russell's poem "The Astronaut" in the November 1934 Bulletin of the British
Interplanetary Society.
The first known formal use of the term astronautics in the scientific community was the establishment of the annual
International Astronautical Congress in 1950 and the subsequent founding of the International Astronautical
Federation the following year.
NASA applies the term astronaut to any crew member aboard NASA spacecraft bound for Earth orbit or beyond.
NASA also uses the term as a title for those selected to join its Astronaut Corps.The European Space Agency
similarly uses the term astronaut for members of its Astronaut Corps.
Russian
By convention, an astronaut employed by the Russian Federal Space Agency (or its Soviet predecessor) is called a
cosmonaut in English texts. The word is an anglicisation of the Russian word kosmonavt (Russian: космонавт
Russian pronunciation: [kəsmɐˈnaft]), one who works in space outside the Earth′s atmosphere, a space traveller,
which derives from the Greek words kosmos (κόσμος), meaning "universe", and nautes (ναύτης), meaning "sailor".
The Soviet Air Force pilot Yuri Gagarin was the first cosmonaut. A Russian factory worker Valentina Tereshkova
was the first female cosmonaut, as well as arguably the first civilian cosmonaut (see below for a further discussion of
civilians in space). On March 14, 1995, Norman Thagard became the first American to ride to space on board a
Russian launch vehicle, and became the first "American cosmonaut".
Chinese
Official English-language texts issued by the government of the People's Republic of China use astronaut while texts
in Russian use космонавт (kosmonavt). In China, the term for cosmonaut is "yǔhángyuán" (宇 航 员,
"sailing personnel in universe") and for astronaut is "hángtiānyuán" (航 天 员, "sailing personnel in sky") have long
been used for astronauts. The phrase "tàikōng rén" (太 空 人, "spaceman") is often used in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
The term taikonaut is used by some English-language news media organizations for professional space travelers
from China. The word has featured in the Longman and Oxford English dictionaries, the latter of which describes
it as "a hybrid of the Chinese term taikong (space) and the Greek naut (sailor)"; the term became more common in
2003 when China sent its first astronaut Yang Liwei into space aboard the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft. This is the term
used by Xinhua in the English version of the Chinese People's Daily since the advent of the Chinese space
program.[24] The origin of the term is unclear; as early as May 1998, Chiew Lee Yih (趙 裡 昱) from Malaysia,
used it in newsgroups.
Astronaut 3
Other terms
With the rise of space tourism, NASA and the Russian Federal Space Agency agreed to use the term "spaceflight
participant" to distinguish those space travelers from professional astronauts on missions coordinated by those two
agencies.
While no nation other than the Russian Federation (and previously the former the Soviet Union), the United States,
and China has launched a manned spacecraft, several other nations have sent people into space in cooperation with
one of these countries. Inspired partly by these missions, other synonyms for astronaut have entered occasional
English usage. For example, the term spationaut (French spelling: spationaute) is sometimes used to describe French
space travelers, from the Latin word spatium or "space", and the Malay term angkasawan was used to describe
participants in the Angkasawan program. In Hungary the word describing astronauts is űrhajós (from űr meaning
"space" and hajós meaning "sailor".)
Space travel milestones
The first human in space was Soviet Yuri Gagarin, who was launched into space on April 12, 1961 aboard Vostok 1 and orbited around the Earth for 108 minutes. The first woman in space was Russian Valentina Tereshkova, who launched on June 16, 1963 aboard Vostok 6 and orbited Earth for almost three days. Alan Shepard became the first American and second person in space on May 5, 1961 on a 15-minute sub-orbital flight. The first American woman in space was Sally Ride, during Space Shuttle Challenger's mission STS-7, on June 18,
1983. In 1992 Mae Jemison became the first African American woman to travel in space aboard STS-47. The first manned mission to orbit the moon, Apollo 8, included American William Anders who was born in Hong Kong, making him the first Asian-born astronaut in 1968. In April 1985, Taylor Wang became the first ethnic Chinese person in space. On 15 October 2003, Yang Liwei became China's first astronaut on the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft. The Soviet Union, through its Intercosmos program, allowed people from other "socialist" (i.e. Warsaw Pact and other Soviet-allied) countries to fly on its missions. An example is Vladimír Remek, a Czechoslovak, who became the first non-Soviet European in space in 1978 on a Russian Soyuz-U rocket. On July 23, 1980, Pham Tuan of Vietnam became the first Asian in space when he flew aboard Soyuz 37. Also in 1980, Cuban Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez became the first person of Hispanic and black African descent to fly in space, Guion Bluford became the first African American to fly into space. The first person born in Africa to fly in space was Patrick Baudry, in 1985. In 1985, Saudi Arabian Prince Sultan Bin Salman Bin AbdulAziz Al-Saud became the first Arab Muslim astronaut in space.[35] In 1988, Abdul Ahad Mohmand became the first Afghan to reach space, spending nine days aboard the Mir space station.
With the larger number of seats available on the Space Shuttle, the U.S. began taking international astronauts. In
1983, Ulf Merbold of West Germany became the first non-US citizen to fly in a US spacecraft. In 1984, Marc
Garneau became the first of 8 Canadian astronauts to fly in space (through 2010).[37] In 1985, Rodolfo Neri Vela
became the first Mexican-born person in space.In 1991, Helen Sharman became the first Briton to fly in
space. In 2002, Mark Shuttleworth became the first citizen of an African country to fly in space, as a paying
spaceflight participant. In 2003, Ilan Ramon became the first Israeli to fly in space, although he died during a
re-entry accident.
Age milestones
The youngest person to fly in space is Gherman Titov, who was 25 years old when he flew Vostok 2. (Titov was also
the first person to suffer space sickness). The oldest person who has flown in space is John Glenn, who was 77
when he flew on STS-95.
Duration and distance milestones
The longest stay in space thus far has been 438 days, by Russian Valeri Polyakov. As of 2006, the most
spaceflights by an individual astronaut is seven, a record held by both Jerry L. Ross and Franklin Chang-Diaz. The
farthest distance from Earth an astronaut has traveled was 401056 km ( mi), when Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and
Fred Haise went around the Moon during the Apollo 13 emergency.
Civilian and non-government milestones
Depending on the exact definition of 'civilian', the first civilian in space was either Valentina Tereshkova aboard
Vostok 6 (she also became the first woman in space on that mission) or Joseph Albert Walker on X-15 Flight
90 a month later. Tereshkova was only honorarily inducted into the USSR's Air Force, which had no female pilots
whatsoever at that time. Joe Walker had joined the US Army Air Force but was not a member during his flight. The
first people in space who had never been a member of any country's armed forces were both Konstantin Feoktistov
and Boris Yegorov aboard Voskhod 1.
The first non-governmental space traveler was Byron K. Lichtenberg, a researcher from the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology who flew on STS-9 in 1983.In December 1990, Toyohiro Akiyama became the first paying space
traveler as a reporter for Tokyo Broadcasting System, a visit to Mir as part of an estimated $12 million (USD) deal
with a Japanese TV station, although at the time, the term used to refer to Akiyama was "Research
Cosmonaut". Akiyama suffered severe space-sickness during his mission, which affected his
productivity.
The first self-funded space tourist was Dennis Tito on board the Russian spacecraft Soyuz TM-3 on 28 April 2001.
Self-funded travelers
The first person to fly on an entirely privately-funded mission was Mike Melvill, piloting SpaceShipOne flight 15P
on a sub-orbital journey, although he was a test pilot employed by Scaled Composites and not an actual paying space
tourist. Seven others have paid to fly into space:
1. Dennis Tito (American): April 28 – May 6, 2001 (ISS)
2. Mark Shuttleworth (South African): April 25 – May 5, 2002 (ISS)
3. Gregory Olsen (American): October 1–11, 2005 (ISS)
4. Anousheh Ansari (Iranian / American): September 18–29, 2006 (ISS)
5. Charles Simonyi (Hungarian / American): April 7–21, 2007 (ISS), March 26 – April 8, 2009 (ISS)
6. Richard Garriott (American): October 12–24, 2008 (ISS)
7. Guy Laliberté (Canadian): September 30, 2009 – October 11, 2009 (ISS)
Training
The first NASA astronauts were selected for training in 1959.[53] Early in the space program, military jet test piloting
and engineering training were often cited as prerequisites for selection as an astronaut at NASA, although neither
John Glenn nor Scott Carpenter (of the Mercury Seven) had any university degree, in engineering or any other
discipline at the time of their selection. Selection was initially limited to military pilots.[54][55] The earliest astronauts
for both America and Russia tended to be jet fighter pilots, and were often test pilots.
Once selected, NASA astronauts go through 20 months of training in a variety of areas, including training for
extra-vehicular activity in a facility such as NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory.[1][54] Astronauts-in-training may
also experience short periods of weightlessness in aircraft called the "vomit comet", the nickname given to a pair of
modified KC-135s (retired in 2000 and 2004 respectively, and replaced in 2005 with a C-9) which perform parabolic
flights.[53] Astronauts are also required to accumulate a number of flight hours in high-performance jet aircraft. This
is mostly done in T-38 jet aircraft out of Ellington Field, due to its proximity to the Johnson Space Center. Ellington
Field is also where the Shuttle Training Aircraft is maintained and developed, although most flights of the aircraft
are done out of Edwards Air Force Base.
NASA candidacy requirements
• Be citizens of the United States.
• Pass a strict physical examination, and have a near and distant visual acuity correctable to 20/20 (6/6). Blood
pressure, while sitting, must be no greater than 140 over 90.
Commander and Pilot
• A bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics is required.
• At least 1,000 hours flying time as pilot-in-command in jet aircraft. Experience as a test pilot is desirable.
• Height must be 5 ft 2 in to 6 ft 2 in (1.63 to 1.88 m).
• Distant visual acuity must be correctable to 20/20 in each eye.
• The refractive surgical procedures of the eye, PRK (Photorefractive keratectomy) and LASIK, are now allowed,
providing at least 1 year has passed since the date of the procedure with no permanent adverse after effects. For
those applicants under final consideration, an operative report on the surgical procedure will be requested.
Mission Specialist
• A bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics, as well as at least three
years of related professional experience (graduate work or studies) and an advanced degree (master's degree = 1
year or a doctoral degree = 3 years)
• Applicant's height must be 5 ft 2 in to 6 ft 4 in (1.57 to 1.93 m).
Mission Specialist Educator
• Bachelor's degree with teaching experience, including work at thekindergarten through 12th grade level. Advanced degree notrequired, but is desired.
Mission Specialist Educators, or "Educator Astronauts", were first selected in 2004, and as of 2007, there are three NASA Educator astronauts: Joseph M. Acaba, Richard R. Arnold, and Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger.Barbara Morgan, selected as back-up teacher to Christa McAuliffe in 1985, is considered to be the first Educator astronaut by the media, but she trained as a mission specialist.The Educator Astronaut program is a successor to the Teacher in Space program from the 1980s.
Health risks of space travel
Astronauts are susceptible to a variety of health risks including decompression sickness, barotrauma,
immunodeficiencies, loss of bone and muscle, orthostatic intolerance due to volume loss, sleep disturbances, and
radiation injury. A variety of large scale medical studies are being conducted in space via the National Space and
Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) to address these issues. Prominent among these is the Advanced Diagnostic
Ultrasound in Microgravity Study in which astronauts (including former ISS commanders Leroy Chiao and Gennady
Padalka) perform ultrasound scans under the guidance of remote experts to diagnose and potentially treat hundreds
of medical conditions in space. This study's techniques are now being applied to cover professional and Olympic
sports injuries as well as ultrasound performed by non-expert operators in medical and high school students. It is
anticipated that remote guided ultrasound will have application on Earth in emergency and rural care situations,
where access to a trained physician is often rare.
Insignia
In Russia, cosmonauts are awarded Pilot-Cosmonaut of the Russian Federation upon completion of their missions,
often accompanied with the award of Hero of the Russian Federation. This follows the practice established in the
Soviet Union.
At NASA, those who complete astronaut candidate training receive a silver lapel pin. Once they have flown in space,
they receive a gold pin. U.S. astronauts who also have active-duty military status receive a special qualification
badge, known as the Astronaut Badge, after participation on a spaceflight. The United States Air Force also presents
an Astronaut Badge to its pilots who exceed 50 miles (80 km) in altitude.
Deaths
Eighteen astronauts (fourteen men and four women) have lost their lives during four space flights. By nationality, they are 13 Americans (including one with dual Indian citizenship), four Russians (Soviet Union), and one Israeli. Eleven people (all men) have lost their lives training for spaceflight: eight Americans and three Russians. Six of these were in crashes of training jet aircraft, one drowned during water recovery training, and four were due to fires in pure oxygen environments. The Space Mirror Memorial, which stands on the grounds of the John F. Kennedy Space Center Visitor
Complex, commemorates the lives of the men and women who have died during spaceflight and during training in the space programs of the United States. In addition to twenty NASA career astronauts, the memorial includes the names of a U.S. Air Force X-15 test pilot, a U.S. Air Force officer who died while training for a then-classified military space program, and a civilian spaceflight participant.