Deke Slayton
Donald Kent "Deke" Slayton, was an American World War II pilot, aeronautical engineer, and test pilot who was selected as one of the original NASA Mercury Seven astronauts, and became NASA's first Chief of the Astronaut Office.
Mike Mullane
Richard Michael "Mike" Mullane is an engineer and aircraft pilot, a retired USAF officer. and a former NASA astronaut. During his career, he flew as a mission specialist on STS-41-D, STS-27, and STS-36.
Tim Peake
Major Timothy Nigel Peake CMG is a British Army Air Corps officer, former European Space Agency astronaut and International Space Station (ISS) crew member. He is the first British ESA astronaut, the second astronaut to bear a flag of the United ...
Douglas G. Hurley
Douglas Gerald Hurley is an engineer and retired NASA astronaut. He piloted Space Shuttle mission STS-127, which launched July 15, 2009. He was assigned and flew as pilot for STS-135, the final flight of the Space Shuttle program, in July 2011. ...
Andrew J. Feustel
Andrew Jay "Drew" Feustel is a geophysicist and a NASA astronaut. Following several years working as a geophysicist, Feustel was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in July 2000. His first spaceflight in May 2009, STS-125, lasted ...
Richard R. Arnold
Richard Robert "Ricky" Arnold II is an American educator and a NASA astronaut. He flew on Space Shuttle mission STS-119, which launched March 15, 2009 and delivered the final set of solar arrays to the International Space Station. He ...
Ed White
Edward Higgins White II was an American aeronautical engineer, U.S. Air Force officer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut. On June 3, 1965, he became the first American to walk in space. White died along with astronauts Virgil "Gus" Grissom ...
Jan Davis
Nancy Jan Davis is a former American astronaut. A veteran of three space flights, Davis logged over 673 hours in space. She is now retired from NASA.
Michael S. Hopkins
Michael Scott Hopkins (born December 28, 1968) is a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force, and a current NASA astronaut. Hopkins was selected in June 2009 as a member of the NASA Astronaut Group 20. He made his first spaceflight as a Flight Engineer on ...
Valentin Bondarenko
Valentin Vasiliyevich Bondarenko (Ukrainian: Валентин Васильович Бондаренко, Russian: Валентин Васильевич Бондаренко; 16 February 1937 – 23 March 1961) was a Soviet fighter pilot selected in 1960 for training as a cosmonaut. He died as the result ...
Richard O. Covey
Richard Oswalt Covey is a retired United States Air Force officer and former NASA astronaut.
Viktor Afanasyev
Viktor Mikhailovich Afanasyev Russian: Виктор Михайлович Афанасьев; born 31 December 1948) is a colonel in the Russian Air Force and a test cosmonaut of the Yu. A. Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center.
Buzz Aldrin
Buzz Aldrin; born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr.; is an American engineer, former astronaut, and fighter pilot. As Lunar Module Pilot on the Apollo 11 mission, he and mission commander Neil Armstrong were the first two humans to land on the Moon.
David Saint-Jacques
David Saint-Jacques is a Canadian astronaut with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). He was also an engineer, an astrophysicist, and a physician prior to joining the CSA. He was selected to join the CSA in the 2009 CSA selection along with Jeremy ...
Andrew R. Morgan
Andrew Richard "Drew" Morgan is a NASA astronaut from the class of 2013.
Jeremy Hansen
Jeremy Roger Hansen is a Canadian astronaut with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). He was selected to join the CSA in the 2009 CSA selection.
Clifton Williams
Clifton Curtis "C.C." Williams Jr. was an American naval aviator, test pilot, mechanical engineer, major in the United States Marine Corps, and NASA astronaut, who was killed in a plane crash; he had never been to space. The crash was ...
Roger K. Crouch
Roger Keith Crouch (born September 12, 1940) is an American scientist and astronaut who flew as a payload specialist on two NASA Space Shuttle missions in 1997.
Anatoly Filipchenko
Anatoly Vasilyevich Filipchenko (Russian: Анато́лий Васи́льевич Фили́пченко; born February 26, 1928) was a Soviet cosmonaut of Ukrainian descent. He flew on the Soyuz 7 and Soyuz 16 missions. He was born in Davydovka, Voronezh Oblast, RSFSR.
Zenon Jankowski
Zenon Jankowski is a retired Polish pilot, colonel of the Polish Army and cosmonaut. Jankowski was selected as backup cosmonaut of the 1st Polish cosmonaut Mirosław Hermaszewski for the Soyuz 30 mission in 1978.
What is the difference between a cosmonaut and an astronaut?
Cosmonaut and astronaut are synonyms, that is, theoretically we can use them interchangeably, but traditionally we call people launched into space by the Americans astronauts and by the Russians cosmonauts, regardless of what nationalities they were. That is, Americans, Canadians, Japanese, Italians, French and Germans flying with Americans are astronauts. In contrast, General Hermaszewski, the only (so far) Pole in Space, is called a cosmonaut because he flew as part of the Soviet space program.
