An Astronaut

An astronaut is a person who is trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft. While generally reserved for professional space travellers, the term is also sometimes applied to anyone who travels into space, including scientists, politicians, journalists, and tourists.

APOLLO 11 WAS THE FIRST SPACE-SHIP TO LAND ON MOON. ITS CREWS INCLUDED NEIL ARMSTRONG, EDWIN ALDRIN AND MICHELE COLLINES

Astronautics is that area of engineering and technology concerned with spaceflight. The discipline includes several technical fields, including astrodynamics, propulsion, structures, power supplies, thermal control, and communications. Astrodynamics, the study of spacecraft motion through force fields in space, is the cornerstone of astronautics.

The STS-121 crew awaits the start of an emergency egress training session .

Astronaut Piers J. Sellers, STS-121 mission specialist, wearing a training version of the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) space suit .

The Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was the first man in space .Gagarin, an air force jet pilot, was chosen with the first group of Soviet cosmonauts in March 1960. On Apr. 12, 1961, he was launched into orbit in the VOSTOK 1 spaceship, which reached a maximum altitude of 327 km (203 mi) and circled the Earth once.

THIS IS THE SPACE SHIP WHICH LAUNCHED YURI GAGARIN INTO SPACE

Valentina Tereshkova ,was a textile-factory worker and an amateur parachutist when she was selected to participate in the Soviet Union's cosmonaut program shortly after the successful spaceflight of Yuri Gagarin. Tereshkova'a Vostok 6 spacecraft was launched on June 16, 1963, and completed 48 orbits in 70 hours 50 minutes before returning to Earth.

STS-121 CREWS POSE FOR A PHOTO DURING THEIR BREAK