Cosmonaut (redirected from Cosmonauts)

cosmonaut: see astronaut.

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cosmonaut [′käz·mə‚nȯt]

(aerospace engineering)

An astronaut in the former Soviet Union.

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Cosmonaut 

(also astronaut), a person who tests and operates space hardware during a space flight; it is a profession that arose because of man’s penetration into space (1961).

The first cosmonaut trainees were selected from military pilots (USSR) and test pilots (USA), since the necessary combination of qualities (expert flying skill; the ability to make instant decisions and to withstand noise, vibration, acceleration, and their combinations; and experience in carrying out observations and recording their results) is most often found in those professions. Later, in both the USSR and the USA, engineers and scientists with the required specialized knowledge also became part of flight crews.

Cosmonaut training began in the Soviet Union in 1960 and in the USA in 1959 for Mercury program flights and in 1962 for Gemini and Apollo program flights. Soviet cosmonauts who had made space flights as pilots or crew members as of Jan. 1, 1976, were lu. A. Gagarin (1961), G. S. Titov (1961), A. G. Nikolaev (1962 and 1970), P. R. Popovich (1962 and 1974), V. F. Bykovskii (1963), V. V. Tereshkova (Nikolaeva-Tereshkova; 1963), V. M. Komarov (1964 and 1967), K. P. Feoktistov (1964), B. B. Egorov (1964), P. I. Beliaev (1965), A. A. Leonov (1965 and 1975), G. T. Beregovoi (1968), V. A. Shatalov (twice in 1969; 1971), A. S. Eliseev (twice in 1969; 1971), E. V. Khrunov (1969), B. V. Volynov (1969), G. S. Shonin (1969), V. N. Kubasov (1969 and 1975), A. V. Filipchenko (1969 and 1974), V. N. Volkov (1969 and 1971), V. V. Gorbatko (1969), V. I. Sevast’-ianov (1970 and 1975), N. N. Rukavishnikov (1971), G. T. Dobrovol’skii (1971), V. I. Patsaev (1971), V. G. Lazarev (1973), O. G. Makarov (1973), P. I. Klimuk (1973 and 1975), V. V. Lebedev (1973), lu. P. Artiukhin (1974), L. S. Demin (1974), G. V. Sarafanov (1974), A. A. Gubarev (1975), and G. M. Grechko (1975).

American astronauts were A. Shepard (1961 and 1971), V. Grissom (1961 and 1965), J. Glenn (1962), M. S. Carpenter (1962), W. Schirra (1962, 1965, and 1968), L. G. Cooper (1963, 1965), J. Young (1965, 1966, 1969 and 1972), J. McDivitt (1965 and 1969), E. White (1965 and 1968), C Conrad (1965, 1966, 1969, and 1973), F. Borman (1965 and 1968), J. Lovell (1965, 1966, 1968, and 1970), T. Stafford (1965, 1966, and 1969), N. Armstrong (1966 and 1969), D. Scott (1966, 1969, and 1971), E. Cernan (1966, 1969, and 1972), M. Collins (1966 and 1969), R. Gordon (1966 and 1969), E. Aldrin, Jr. (1966 and 1969), W. Cunningham (1968), D. Eisele (1968), W. Anders (1968), R. Schweikert (1969), A. Bean (1969 and 1973), J. Swigert (1970), F. Haise (1970), E. Mitchell (1971), S. Roosa (1971), A. Worden (1971), J. Irwin (1971), T. Mattingly (1972), C. Duke (1972), R. Evans (1972), H. Schmitt (1972), J. Kerwin (1973), P. Weitz (1973), O. Garriott (1973), J. Lousma (1973), G. Carr (1973), E. Gibson (1973), W. Pogue (1973), D. Slayton (1975), and V. Brand (1975).

G. A. NAZAROV [13–760–1; updated]