hey ppl,
what the hell is the difference between an astronaut and a cosmonaut?
and hey
pls visit my site:
[link deleted]
[Edited by Chronos on 01-11-2001 at 01:18 PM]
um…one speaks Russian, the other speaks American English!
s’pose that’s all…dunno really, not being from either country! :wally
A cosmonaut is a Russian astronaut.
An astronaut is an American cosmonaut.
cosmo- - world; universe
astro- - pertaining to activites taking place outside of Earth’s atmosphere
naut - sailor; traveller
Welcome to the SDMB!
astronaut = American
cosmonaut = Russian
anyone know what other countries call their space-faring folks? (“rare” probably 
)
The press traditionally refers to the participants in the possibly-soon-to-be-operational Chinese space program as Cosmonauts as well.
zub, welcome to the Straight Dope, but let me warn you that we don’t tolerate links to sites which carry software cracks. I removed the link, and it will shortly be removed from your profile as well. In addition, I would very strongly recommend that you take such material off of your web page as well. Consider this an official warning.
They don’t. The US and Russia are the only two countries (currently) with operational manned space programs. 'nauts from other countries have flown into space, but only aboard spacecraft belonging to these two countries. So, if they are flying aboard a Shuttle they are called Astronauts and if they happen to be on a Soyuz they are Cosmonauts. The only exception is when a US 'naut flies on a Russian craft and vicea versa. Then, they keep their Astronaut/Cosmonaut designation.
I’d not noticed that Chinese 'nauts were being called Cosmonauts.
Anyone know what the Russians call their own space guys?
Something in Russian that means “cosmonaut”.
Actually, in Russian the word is…
cosmonaut
But I believe they now use “astronaut” as well; I don’t know if there’s a contextual determinant.
Some refer to the Chinese astronauts as taikonauts. This CNN article mentions this term but uses the word astronaut as a generic term.
So when an American flew on the Mir, was he an astronaut or cosmonaut? What about Russians who fly on the Shuttle? (That is, what did the press refer to them as?)