Why Do We Call Them 'Astronauts'?

Ever wonder the difference between an 'Astronaut' and a 'Cosmonaut'? Well, have a seat and get comfortable because SciShow Space will tell you all about it.

Hosted by: Caitlin Hofmeister

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[pi]

Let's all agree to use the term 'Kerbonaut'.

[GilWanderley]

Also, aren't Chinese ones called taikonauts or something?

[HansPeter-qgvc]

Sooo ... Russia is right, essentially.

[heartfthedragn]

Can't we just call them sky-entists?

[myofficetop]

First man in space Yuri was Cosmonaut, sooo all others should be too

[RinoaL]

"cosmonaut" sounds cooler, plus their spacesuits and spaceships look cooler most of the time.

[Zeldaschampion]

Deep space travelers should be called cosmonauts IMO.

[devildog]

The term "star sailor" gives me chills just thinking about it, so glad they went with astronaut

[GilWanderley]

Star sailor, uh? Does that makes Neil Armstrong Sailor Moon?

[MZZenyl]

These people dedicate their life to getting into space. If they want to be called Unicorn Flufflebutts, I'll say it with a straight face and respect them completely.

What about Taikonauts (China), Spationauts (France, ESA), and Vyomanauts (India)?

[vkillion]

Then there is the unofficial term "taikonaut" for Chinese star/space sailors. It comes from the Chinese taikong, meaning space. It's mostly used by English-language news outlets. Official English-language texts issued by China use the term astronaut and official Russian-language texts issued by China use космонавт (cosmonaut).

[doxielain]

One quibbles to mention that NASA now uses the term "crewed" instead of "manned."

[siberianhuskybudthegreywol]

i think cosmonauts sounds cooler than astronauts...but maybe that's because astronauts just sounds more familiar to me and the novelty of the word has worn off... i wonder if i'd feel the same about astronauts if i was raised with cosmonauts... hmm...

[sad_depressed_weeb]

This video was really very informative...thanks guys

[assetzh]

I love this channel. Hello from Kazakhstan!

[unvergebeneid]

Star Sailor, Universe Sailor ... whatever. It _is_ a missed opportunity, though, that the people we sent to the Moon weren't hot chicks in short skirts called Moon Sailors.

[OmegaEnvych]

Another fact: word "Cosmos" in modern russian got same meaning as "Space" in english astronomy. More precise - Russians use this word to describe space outside planets and stars, that contains them. It's like words for jet engines in these languages: russians call them "reactive engines" which implies that they are using specific reaction to work, while in english words "jet engines" is used and implies specific effect that engine produces. So yes, they are not just different words, they hold different meanings as well.

[DesolateFields]

Also, russian translation of the word 'space' (in context of space travel) is 'космос' ('cosmos'), so yeah, there's also that.

[ladysorka]

I saw a license plate yesterday that was COSMONUT. Given the potential double meaning, I decided it was the one of the best customized plates I've ever seen.