Andrei Borisenko

PERSONAL DATA: Born April 17, 1964, in Leningrad (St. Petersburg), Russia. Married to Zoya Leonidovna Borisenko (nee Tushenkova); they have a son, Ivan. His parents, Ivan Andreevich and Natalia Mikhailovna Borisenko, reside in Saint Petersburg. ...

Dmitri Kondratiyev

PERSONAL DATA: Born May 25, 1969, in Irkutsk. His parents, Yuri Semyonovich Kondratyev and Valentina Dmitrievna, reside in Alma-Aty, Kazakhstan. Dmitry is married to Dinara, and they have a son named Vladislav. His hobbies include computers, ...

Oleg Skripochka

PERSONAL DATA: Born December 24, 1969 in Nevinnomysk, Stavropol Region, Russia. Married to Elena Vladimirovna Milovanova. They have a daughter, Darya, born in 2005, and a son, Denis, born in 2008. Oleg’s hobbies include parachute sport and ...

Shannon Walker

Bachelor of Science in Physics from the Rice University, 1987; Master of Science in Astrophysics from the Rice University, 1992; Ph.D. in Astrophysics from the Rice University, 1993; semi-finalist in NASA astronaut groups 15, 16, 17 and 18 ...

Naoko Yamazaki

Naoko Yamazaki was born in 1970 in Matsudo City, Chiba. She received a bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering in 1993 and a master's degree in Aerospace Engineering in 1996, both from the University of Tokyo. Yamazaki joined the National ...

Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger

PERSONAL DATA: Born in May 1975, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, but considers Fort Collins, Colorado, her hometown. Married Jason Metcalf-Lindenburger of Pendleton, Oregon, in 2000. They have one child. Her parents are Joyce and Keith ...

James Dutton

PERSONAL DATA: Born in November 1968 in Eugene, Oregon. Married to the former Erin Ruhoff, also from Eugene. They have four sons—J.P., Will, Joey and Ryan. Dutton's parents, James Sr. and Nita Dutton, live in Newberg, Oregon. Erin's parents, Rod ...

Mikhail Kornienko

BIRTHPLACE AND DATE: Born 15 April, 1960, in Syzran, Kuibyshev region, Russia. PERSONAL DATA: Married to Irina Anatolievna Kornienko (Savostina); daughter Natalia. EDUCATION: Graduated from a secondary school in Chelyabinsk, Russia, in ...

Aleksandr Skvortsov

Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Skvortsov (Russian: Aлександр Aлександрович Скворцов; born May 6, 1966) is a Russian cosmonaut. He has had two spaceflights, which were long-duration missions aboard the International Space Station. His first spaceflight ...

Terry Virts Jr

Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, USAF Academy, 1989; M.A.S. in Aeronautics, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, 1997; Colonel, USAF; F-16 Test Pilot, Edwards AFB, California; hobbies: running, biking, swimming, golf, cross-country skiing, ...

Timothy Creamer

PERSONAL DATA: Born November 15, 1959, in Fort Huachuca, Arizona, but considers Upper Marlboro, Maryland, to be his home town. His interests include tennis, running, biking, reading, scuba diving, German language, Russian language and Information ...

Randolph Bresnik

Major, USMC; Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from The Citadel, 1989; Master of Science in Aviation Systems from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, 2002; at the time of selection Operations Officer, F/A-18 Pilot, MCAS Miramar, San Diego, ...

Robert Satcher Jr

PERSONAL DATA: Born September 22, 1965, in Hampton, Virginia. Married to the former D’Juanna O. White, MPH, MD, of New York, New York. They have two children. He enjoys running, scuba diving and reading. His parents, Robert and Marian, reside in ...

Barry Wilmore

PERSONAL DATA: He is married to the former Miss Deanna Newport of Helenwood, Tennessee and they have two daughters. He was raised in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee where his parents Eugene and Faye Wilmore still reside. His brother Jack and family reside ...

Guy Laliberté

Canadian entrepreneur, philanthropist, poker player, space tourist, co-founder and the current CEO of Cirque du Soleil. With an estimated net worth of US$2.6 billion (as of March 2012), Laliberté was ranked by Forbes as the 11th wealthiest ...

Nicole Stott

Nicole Marie Passonno Stott is an American engineer and a NASA astronaut. She served as a Flight Engineer on ISS Expedition 20 and Expedition 21 and was a Mission Specialist on STS-128 and STS-133. After 27 years of working at NASA, the space ...

Jose Hernandez

PERSONAL DATA: Born August 7, 1962 in French Camp, California. Considers Stockton, California, to be his hometown. EDUCATION: B.S., Electrical Engineering, University of the Pacific, 1984. M.S., Electrical & Computer Engineering, ...

Kevin Ford

PERSONAL DATA: Born July 7, 1960 in Portland, Indiana. Montpelier, Indiana, is his hometown. EDUCATION: Graduated from Blackford High School, Hartford City, Indiana, in 1978. He received his Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from ...

Timothy Kopra

PERSONAL DATA: Born on April 9, 1963, in Austin, Texas. Married to the former Dawn Lehman of Lewisburg, Kentucky. They have two children. He enjoys running, swimming, reading, home improvement projects, and spending time with family and friends. ...

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.

Taikonauta (taikonauta)

A co z chińczykami? Na zachodzie chińczyków w kosmosie nazywają taikonautami. Co ciekawe słowo tajkonuta, z chińskiego "taikong" (czyli przestrzeń kosmiczna) wymyślił najprawdopodobniej dla żartu pod koniec lat 90. malezyjski fan lotów kosmicznych i posłużył się nim w tekście internetowym, co podchwyciły zachodnie media. Sami Chińczycy mówią o swoim astronaucie – yuhangyuan.