Aleksander Poleshchuk
PERSONAL DATA: Born October 30, 1953 in Cheremkhovo, Irkutsk region, Russia. Resides in Moscow, Russia. Married to Irina Petrovna Poleschuk (nee Chistyakova). They have one daughter. His mother, Valentina Sergeevna Poleschuk, died in 1995. His ...
Susan Helms
Susan Jane Helms is a retired lieutenant general in the United States Air Force and a former NASA astronaut. Helms was a crew member on five Space Shuttle missions and was a resident of the International Space Station (ISS) for over five months ...
Michael Clifford
PERSONAL DATA Born October 13, 1952 in San Bernadino, California, but considers Ogden, Utah, to be his hometown. Married to the former Nancy Elizabeth Brunson of Darlington, South Carolina. They have two sons. He enjoys flying, golf, tennis, ...
Steven MacLean
Prior to his appointment as President, Dr. MacLean was Chief Astronaut of the CSA and coordinated the astronaut activities. He also championed studies, served on steering committees and was the Canadian voting member on the Multi-Crew Operational ...
Mamoru Mohri
Mamoru “Mark” Mohri (毛利 衛 Mōri Mamoru, born 29 January 1948), AM is a Japanese scientist, a former NASDA astronaut, and a veteran of two NASA space shuttle missions. Mohri was selected by the National Space Development Agency of Japan (now JAXA) ...
Mae Jemison
Mae Carol Jemison is an American engineer, physician and NASA astronaut. She became the first African American woman to travel in space when she went into orbit aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour on September 12, 1992. After medical school and a ...
Nancy Davis
PERSONAL DATA: Born November 1, 1953, at Cocoa Beach, Florida, but considers Huntsville Alabama, to be her hometown. She enjoys flying, ice skating, snow skiing, water sports, and needlework. EDUCATION: Graduated from Huntsville High School in ...
Curtis Brown
PERSONAL DATA: Born March 11, 1956, in Elizabethtown, North Carolina. He is married and has one son. He enjoys water and snow skiing, scuba diving, air racing, restoring old cars, sailing, aerobatic flying. His mother, Mrs. Rachel H. Brown, ...
Franco Malerba
Bachelor of science in electronical engineering from the University of Genova, 1970; Ph.D. in physics from the University of Genova, 1974; hobbies: Mountaineering, skiing, tennis; 1994 - 1999 Italian Member of the European Parliament; member of ...
Claude Nicollier
Claude Nicollier was an ESA astronaut of Swiss nationality for almost 30 years. Education He graduated from the University of Lausanne in 1970 with a Bachelor of Science in physics and the University of Geneva in 1975 with a Master of ...
Andrew Allen
PERSONAL DATA: Born August 4, 1955, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Four children. Enjoys woodworking, racquetball, weight lifting, and bicycling. His father, Charles A. Allen, resides in Titusville, Florida. His mother, Loretta T. Allen, is ...
Michel Tognini
Personal data Born 30 September 1949, in Vincennes, France. Four children. Enjoys parachuting and parafoil, tennis, windsurfing, water-skiing, snow-skiing, cross-country running, wave-surfing, discus launch gliders and computers. Education ...
Sergei Avdeyev
Russian engineer and cosmonaut. Avdeyev was born in Chapayevsk, Samara Oblast (formerly Kuybyshev Oblast), Russian SFSR. He graduated from Moscow Physics-Engineering Institute in 1979 as an engineer-physicist. From 1979 to 1987 he worked as an ...
Eugene Trinh
PERSONAL DATA: Born September 14, 1950, in Saigon,Vietnam; was raised from the age of two in Paris, France and has lived in the United States since 1968. Currently a resident of Culver City, California. Married to the former Yvette Fabry. ...
Lawrence DeLucas
PERSONAL DATA: Born July 11, 1950, Syracuse, New York. Married and has three children. Recreational interests include basketball, scuba diving, model airplanes, astronomy and reading. EDUCATION: Bachelor of science degree and master of science ...
Kenneth Bowersox
PERSONAL DATA: Born November 14, 1956, in Portsmouth, Virginia, but considers Bedford, Indiana, to be his hometown. EDUCATION: Graduated from Bedford High School, Bedford, Indiana, in 1974; received a bachelor of science degree in aerospace ...
Kevin Chilton
PERSONAL DATA: Born November 3, 1954, in Los Angeles, California. Married; four children. He enjoys reading and all sports, including running, snow skiing, sailing, and softball. He also played the guitar in a rock and roll band. EDUCATION: ...
Dirk Frimout
Flew as Belgian payload specialist on the ATLAS-1 mission (STS-45) from 24 March 1992 until 2 April 1992. The STS-45 mission marked the first flight of the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science-1 (ATLAS-1), mounted on non-deployable ...
Colin Foale
PERSONAL DATA: Born January 6, 1957, in Louth, England, but considers Cambridge, England, to be his hometown. Married to the former Rhonda R. Butler of Louisville, Kentucky. They have two children. He enjoys many outdoor activities, particularly ...
Brian Duffy
PERSONAL DATA: Born June 20, 1953, in Boston, Massachusetts. Married to the former Janet M. Helms of West Lafayette, Indiana. They have two children. He enjoys golf, running, and reading. His mother, Mrs. Anne C. Duffy, resides in Hingham, ...
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.
