What is a Cosmonaut?
Cosmonaut is the Soviet/Russian term for astronaut. The strictest definition of either, since the words are synonymous, is a person trained by a spaceflight program to serve in a spacecraft. The cosmonaut can take a number of roles in space fights. They may command a mission, fly the spacecraft, or serve as a crewmember. With the growth of space tourism, distinction between cosmonaut and space tourist often needs to be made. People simply flying on a shuttle mission, who are there merely to travel, aren’t considered astronauts or cosmonauts. The reason Americans are so familiar with the term cosmonaut is because of the Soviet/US Space Race, an effort of both countries during the Cold War to be the first in exploring space, landing on the moon, and making new discoveries about space travel. Initially the Soviet Program took an early lead. Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was the first man to orbit earth and reach space in 1961. That same year, the USSR scored another early victory when cosmonaut
