Joe Engle
Joe Henry Engle was an American pilot who served in the United States Air Force, test pilot for the North American X-15 program, aeronautical engineer, and a NASA astronaut. Engle test-flew the joint NASA-Air Force X-15 rocket airplane. During ...
Robert Crippen
Robert Laurel Crippen is an American retired naval officer and aviator, test pilot, aerospace engineer, and retired astronaut. He traveled into space four times: as Pilot of STS-1 in April 1981, the first Space Shuttle mission; and as Commander ...
Viktor Savinykh
Viktor Petrovich Savinykh was born in Berezkiny, Kirov Oblast, Russian SFSR on March 7, 1940. Married with one child. Selected as a cosmonaut on December 1, 1978. Retired on February 9, 1989. Flew as Flight Engineer on Soyuz T-4, Soyuz T-13 ...
Gennadi Strekalov
Gennadi Mikhailovich Strekalov (Russian: Генна́дий Миха́йлович Стрека́лов; October 26, 1940 – December 25, 2004) was an engineer, cosmonaut, and administrator at Russian aerospace firm RSC Energia. He flew into space five times and lived aboard ...
Leonid Kizim
Leonid Denisovich Kizim (Кизим Леонид Денисович) (August 5, 1941 – June 14, 2010) was a Soviet cosmonaut. He was selected as a cosmonaut on October 23, 1965. Kizim flew as Commander on Soyuz T-3, Soyuz T-10 and Soyuz T-15, and also served as ...
Leonid Popov
Popov was born in Oleksandriia, Kirovohrad Oblast, Ukrainian SSR. He was selected as a cosmonaut on April 27, 1970, and flew as Commander on Soyuz 35, Soyuz 40 and Soyuz T-7, logging 200 days, 14 hours, and 45 minutes in space before his ...
Vladimir Lyakhov
Vladimir Afanasyevich Lyakhov (Russian: Влади́мир Афана́сьевич Ля́хов; 20 July 1941 – 19 April 2018) was a Russian Soviet cosmonaut. He was selected as cosmonaut on 5 May 1967, and retired on 7 September 1994. Lyakhov was the Commander on ...
Sigmund Jahn
Sigmund Werner Paul Jähn (born 13 February 1937) is a German cosmonaut and pilot, who in 1978 became the first German to fly in space as part of the Soviet Union's Interkosmos programme.
Aleksandr Ivanchenkov
Aleksandr Sergeyevich Ivanchenkov (Russian: Алекса́ндр Серге́евич Иванче́нков; born 28 September 1940 ) is a retired Soviet cosmonaut who flew as Flight Engineer on Soyuz 29 and Soyuz T-6, he spent 147 days, 12 hours and 37 minutes in space.
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.
