Astronaut

NASA astronaut during a space mission using a MMU propulsion backpack

An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained, equipped and deployed by a human spaceflight program to fulfill a mission created by a space agency and can serving as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft.

With the advent of commercial space travel, it must be clarified that an astronaut —a term derived from the Greek astron (ἄστρον, 'star') and nautes (ναύτης, 'navigator')— needs a couple of characteristics to be considered as such, for example: astronaut training, having a mission from a space agency, among others more secondary features. Being an astronaut is a certification given by Space Agencies. If these characteristics are missing, the most likely thing is that the person is considered a Space Tourist. The term astronaut is well known and used in the world, mainly used by NASA in the United States, however there are other names used by other nations, astronauts sent by Russia or the Soviet Union are typically known as "cosmonauts" —from Russian kosmonavt (космонавт), which in turn derives from the Greek words kosmos (κοσμος, 'universe') and nautes (ναύτης, 'navigator')—to distinguish them from Americans. Comparatively recent developments in human spaceflight conducted by China have led to the rise of the term "taikonaut"—from Mandarin tàikōngrén (太空人, 'spaceman')—although its use is limited. somewhat informal and its origin is unclear.

Between 1961 and 2021, 600 astronauts reached space.

Pioneer Astronauts

Cosmonauts

The Soviet Yuri Gagarin was the first human being to travel to outer space, aboard Vostok 1, April 12, 1961, as well as the first cosmonaut/astronaut of history

The first person to go into space in all of history was the cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin when he was launched on April 12, 1961 aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft. The first woman to fly into space was Valentina Tereshkova, who went out into space on June 16, 1963 aboard Vostok 6. German Titov, a Soviet cosmonaut, was the second man in Earth orbit after Gagarin.

In the framework of the Intercosmos program, cosmonauts from the Eastern Bloc and other countries allied to the Soviet Union, such as Cuba, also went to space. Also France and India, which were not socialist states, participated in Intercosmos.

Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space in 1963.

The first Soviet cosmonauts, in July 1965. Right-left row: Leonov, Titov, Bykovsky, Yegorov, Popovich; front row: Komarov, Gagarin, Tereshkova, Nikolayev, Feoktistov, Belyayev.

Astronauts

The first 16 NASA astronauts in February 1963. Row from behind: White, McDivitt, Young, See, Conrad, Borman, Armstrong, Stafford, Lovell. Front row: Cooper, Grissom, Carpenter, Schirra, Glenn, Shepard, Slayton.

During the Apollo program (1961-1975), the United States sent a total of 30 manned missions: six in the Mercury program, 10 in the Gemini program, 11 in the Apollo program, three in the Skylab program, and one in the Apollo-Soyuz test program. These 30 missions provided 71 individual flight opportunities: six on Mercury, 20 on Gemini, 33 on Apollo, nine on Skylab, and three on Apollo-Soyuz. These positions were covered by 43 people. Among them, four made a total of four flights, three made a total of three flights, 10 a couple of flights, and the remaining 26 flew only once. Some of them made additional flights with the space shuttle.

Of the 31 flights of the Apollo era, three were suborbital and nine were lunar missions. The remaining 20 were Earth orbital flights. The nine lunar flights provided the opportunity to carry out this type of flight for 24 people. Only three people flew twice to the Moon. The 6 successful moon landings put 12 people on the moon. None of them landed twice, although two of them had already flown to the Moon at least once, five of them had already made non-lunar flights and five had no experience in spaceflight.

All of the Mercury flights and three of the Gemini flights had a rookie crew, as did one of the Skylab flights. Yet every mission in the Apollo program included at least one veteran astronaut. Only two flights, the lunar missions, and the tests included an all-veteran crew.

Mercury Program Astronauts

The first group of American astronauts were selected in April 1959 for NASA's Mercury program. This group, which became known as the "Mercury Seven" ("the Mercury Seven"), was made up of Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton. All were military test pilots, a requirement issued by President Eisenhower to simplify the selection process.

All seven members of the first group of astronauts eventually went into space, though one, Deke Slayton, did not fly a "Mercury" for medical reasons. Finally, he would participate in the Apollo-Soyuz mission. Each of the other six went into space on a Mercury mission. For two of them, Scott Carpenter and John Glenn, the Mercury mission was their only flight in the Apollo Glenn Era, later, they went into space in the Space Shuttle. Three of them, Gus Grissom, Gordon Cooper, and Wally Schirra, also flew a mission during the Gemini program. Alan Shepard did not fly Gemini missions due to medical reasons, but he would later go into space on an Apollo mission. He was the only Mercury astronaut to go to the Moon. Wally Schirra also flew on Apollo, as well as Mercury and Gemini, and was the only astronaut to fly on all three types of spacecraft. Gus Grissom was included in the crew of the first Apollo launch, Apollo 1, but died in a fire on the launch pad during his training.

Gemini Program Astronauts

NASA selected a second group of astronauts in September 1962. This group included Neil Armstrong, Frank Borman, Charles Conrad, Jim McDivitt, Jim Lovell, Elliott See, Tom Stafford, Ed White, and John Young. All of them participated in Gemini program missions except Elliott See, who died in a flight accident while preparing for his voyage on the Gemini. Everyone else flew, too, in Apollo, except for Ed White, who died in a fire on the launch pad during his training for the first Apollo flight. Three of this group: McDivitt, Borman, and Armstrong, made a single flight on Gemini and on Apollo. Four of the others—Young, Lovell, Stafford, and Conrad—made two flights each on the Gemini and at least one flight on the Apollo. Young and Lovell flew twice, each, in the Apollo. Conrad and Stafford also made second flights in the Apollo spacecraft, Conrad in Skylab and Stafford in the Apollo-Soyuz mission. Six of this group: Borman, Lovell, Stafford, Young, Armstrong and Conrad, traveled to the Moon. Lovell and Young went to the Moon twice. Armstrong, Conrad and Young walked on the Moon. John Young also later flew in the Space Shuttle.

American Neil Armstrong, Apollo 11 astronaut, was the first human being to step on the Moon on July 21, 1969.

Five members of the third group of astronauts, selected by NASA in October 1963, also flew missions during the Gemini program. They were: Buzz Aldrin, Eugene A. Cernan, Michael Collins, Richard Gordon and David Scott. Each made a single flight in the Gemini mission, and at least one other in the Apollo program. Scott and Cernan went into space a second time on another Apollo mission. All the members of this group went to the Moon, of them, Cernan went twice. Aldrin, Scott, and Cernan walked on the Moon, on the Apollo 11, Apollo 15, and Apollo 17 missions, respectively.

Apollo program astronauts

Of the 30 flights of the Apollo era, three were suborbital and nine were lunar missions. The remaining 20 were Earth orbital flights. The nine lunar flights provided the opportunity to carry out this type of flight for 24 people. Only three people flew twice to the Moon. The 6 successful moon landings put 12 people on the moon. None landed twice, however two of them had already flown to the Moon at least once, five of them had already made non-lunar flights, and five had no experience in space flight at all.

Being then, Neil Armstrong, the first astronaut and the first human being in history to set foot on the Moon on July 21, 1969, in the Apollo 11 mission. It was the greatest event achieved by a space agency.

Czechoslovak Vladimír Remek was the first non-American or Soviet person in space in 1978.

Taikonauts

The first taikonaut in history was Yang Liwei when he went into space on Shenzhou 5 in October 2003. Taikonauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng were the next to go into space on Shenzhou 6 in October 2005. In 2012 China sent the first female taikonaut, Liu Yang, into space.

First taikonauta, Yang Liwei.

The first taikonautas on a seal in Somalia of 2010.

Associated pathologies

The success of a space mission implies that astronauts have reliable technique, a series of specialized knowledge, a good physical condition and some mental stability.

Among the most common physiological consequences after extraterrestrial stays are sleep disorders, weakening of the immune system, some muscle atrophies, bone erosion and radioactive load, which means that the longer the time in space, the further increases the mutation rate of human chromosomes and therefore the risk of cancer.

Sudden weightlessness is the cause of most of the physical problems in space: dizziness, lack of appetite, nausea and vomiting, which only start to subside 2-4 days later. However, in the long term there are other problems derived from the lack of gravity; the most important is the destruction of muscle mass, which begins to occur just two weeks after the start of the flight, must be counteracted with intensive physical exercise by the astronauts, which is why currently in the international space station astronauts perform 2 hours of exercise, plus it helps them emotionally.

Another frequent problem is the swelling of the face (in English, Puffy Face) in the first days in space, due to excess blood from the upper limbs. The repercussions on facial rigidity can cause understanding problems with other mission partners.

Regarding basic cognitive functions (perception, memory and logical thinking) it remains stable. However, with regard to the psychomotor area, certain functional losses are perceptible: some voluntary movements slow down and become imprecise, and the execution of simultaneous tasks becomes more difficult.

Psychically, isolation during missions can cause a state of asthenia, especially from the middle of the mission: increasing passivity, inattention, feeling of exhaustion, irritability, depression, etc. Due to this, the International Space Station has been applying the so-called Human Behavior Performance Program for some time in order to combat boredom and social isolation. Among the methods used are making available to the astronauts films, records, personal pages to relate to life on earth, family videoconferences and a private psychological conference every two weeks with a psychologist on Earth.

On the collective level, the special conditions of life in space can lead to tensions and conflicts. In addition, cultural differences can also cause problems in the group.

Deaths

Space Mirror Memorial

As of 2020, eighteen astronauts (fourteen men and four women) have lost their lives during four space flights. By nationality, thirteen were American, four were Russian (Soviet Union), and one was Israeli.

As of 2020, eleven people (all men) have lost their lives training for spaceflight: eight Americans and three Russians. Six of them crashed in training aircraft, one drowned during water recovery training, and four were due to fires in pure oxygen environments.

Astronaut David Scott left a memorial consisting of a figurine called Fallen Astronaut on the surface of the Moon during his 1971 Apollo 15 mission, along with a list of the names of eight of the astronauts and six cosmonauts then known to have died in service.

The Space Mirror Memorial, located on the grounds of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, is maintained by the Astronauts Memorial Foundation and commemorates the lives of the men and women who have died during spaceflight and during training in the United States space programs. In addition to twenty career NASA astronauts, the memorial includes the names of an X-15 test pilot, a US Air Force officer who died while training for a then-classified military space program, and a participant in a civil space flight.

Additional bibliography

• Albert A. Harrison (2001). Spacefaring, The Human Dimension (in English). University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-23677-6.
• Rex D. Hall, David J. Shayler et Bert Vis (2011). Russian's Cosmonauts inside the Yuri Gagarin training center (in English). Springer Praxis. ISBN 978-0-387-21894-6.
• Mike Mullane (2006). Riding rockets, The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut (in English). Scribner. ISBN 978-0-7432-7683-2.
• Nick Kanas (2015). Humans in Space, The Psychological Hurdles (in English). Cham/Heidelberg/New York/Dordrecht/London: Springer Praxis Books. ISBN 978-319-18869-0.
• Drake, Nadia; Schoeller, Martin (mars 2018). «Through an astronaut's eyes - Beyond the blue marble». National Geographic Magazine]] (in English) (233).