What's an astronaut?

[Janx]

Astronaut = Crew
Scientist = Specialist Crew = Astronaut
Passenger = Not Crew = not an Astronaut


Bruce Ismay owned the Titanic he was a passenger on the ship and is remembered as a Businessman not as a Sailor

good example. Obviously, I was playing with the definition as put forth earlier.

I imagine Elon would be issuing more orders or something than Ismay did as owner of the ship.

Perhaps its a grey area, but I was also thinking of the catapult mishap guy. Some not-richer-than-god guy could assemble a means to get to space and ride it with the intention of getting there (ex. the astronaut farmer or that flat earth rocket guy).

Are they not an astronaut because they technically paid for everything?
What about volunteers who aren't paid, but get into the launch capsule?
What about the first guys to space who really didn't do anything but ride because it's was a canned trip?

I think the "employee" attribute isn't quite definitive.

Crew is more apt (not sure if there's a gap on who'd be excluded from astronaut status, yet). Somebody in the vessel who is there to serve a function of the trip/mission. I added mission to clarify that all those space trips had missions to do science, observe, etc. So the first guys on the SpaceRide were still astronauts because they went to observe, communicate, take notes and possibly conduct science of some sort.

As opposed to straight up passengers, AKA cargo. Like the aforementioned Bruce Ismay.

 

[Deset Gled]

Maybe the word is becoming obsolete because going to space no longer requires extensive training.

This was my thought exactly. There was a time when everyone who had been in the air was an aeronaut. There was a time when everyone on a ship was a sailor. We simply don't use those words the same way anymore. "Astronaut", for better or worse, has always been an inherently political term that is unlikely to remain in use when space travel become commercial.

That being said, at least one commercial space travel company will use "Become an astronaut!" as a marketing ploy. Someone probably already does.

 

[Zardnaar]

So are you saying only the person in direct control of the spacecraft is the astronaut?

No without being trained as one though.

 

[Janx]

This was my thought exactly. There was a time when everyone who had been in the air was an aeronaut. There was a time when everyone on a ship was a sailor. We simply don't use those words the same way anymore. "Astronaut", for better or worse, has always been an inherently political term that is unlikely to remain in use when space travel become commercial.

That being said, at least one commercial space travel company will use "Become an astronaut!" as a marketing ploy. Someone probably already does.

that's probably spot on. Even all the space movies and shows and fiction kinda move past "spacemen" or "astronaut" in the more modern settings like firefly, the expanse, star wars, star trek, etc.

when space travel is normalized enough that people regularly book passage on a ship to get somewhere, perhaps to move, do business, etc), Astronaut won't be a meaningful term. A key there is booking passage. The ship isn't tied 1:1 with the organization flying it and the people riding it to get somewhere to do something.

 

[WayneLigon]

'Spacer'

 

[Mirtek]

People, you are neglecting the really important question: If one day a marine is on such a flight, would he then become a space marine?

 

[Tonguez]

that's probably spot on. Even all the space movies and shows and fiction kinda move past "spacemen" or "astronaut" in the more modern settings like firefly, the expanse, star wars, star trek, etc.

when space travel is normalized enough that people regularly book passage on a ship to get somewhere, perhaps to move, do business, etc), Astronaut won't be a meaningful term. A key there is booking passage. The ship isn't tied 1:1 with the organization flying it and the people riding it to get somewhere to do something.

Ship travel is normalized but there are still Sailors and Marine Specialist, so what will Space ship crew be called? Astro-Sailor? Astro-Specialist? Or just Astronaut?

 

[Janx]

Ship travel is normalized but there are still Sailors and Marine Specialist, so what will Space ship crew be called? Astro-Sailor? Astro-Specialist? Or just Astronaut?

people tend to shorten things up, so I'd expect not prefixing "astro" to be the norm.

Again, go look at all those space shows. the crew is crew, and that's about it.

 

[Tonguez]

people tend to shorten things up, so I'd expect not prefixing "astro" to be the norm.

Again, go look at all those space shows. the crew is crew, and that's about it.

Yeah thats for those on the ship

but when I, a landlubbet, refer to my uncle being in the Navy I tend to say “uncle Pete was a Sailor in the navy”

if it was 2121 would I be saying “Uncle Pete was crew in the Lunar Navy” of “Uncle Pete was an Astronaut...”

admittedly I tend to say “my grandfather was a cook in the merchant marines ...”

so who knows

 

[GreyLord]

Astronauts are people trained or approved by NASA to be called as such who travel beyond the Earth's atmosphere.

I think currently it defaults to NASA on who gets called one and who does not, though they work in conjunction with Europe on the definitions these days.

Otherwise we have Cosmonauts, Yu Hang Yuan (Space faring navigator/navigating personnel), etc.

With that, I expect North Americans and Europeans to call their space farer's astronauts (the French call them SPATIONAUTS but the European Space agency defaults to Astronaut), Russia and it's environs to call them Cosmonauts, The Chinese to call them Space Faring Navigators, and other nations as they get their own space travellers to call them whatever they want to.