Astronout

In the United States and many other English-speaking nations, a professional space traveler is called an astronaut. The term derives from the Greek words ástron (star) and nautes (sailor). The first known use of the term "astronaut" in the modern sense was by Neil R. Jones in his short story The Death's Head Meteor in 1930. The word itself had been known earlier. For example, in Percy Greg's 1880 book Across the Zodiac, "astronaut" referred to a spacecraft. In Les Navigateurs de l'Infini (1925) of J.-H. Rosny aîné the word astronautique (astronautic) was used. The word may have been inspired by "aeronaut", an older term for an air traveler first applied (in 1784) to balloonists.NASA applies the term astronaut to any crew member aboard NASA spacecraft bound for Earth orbit or beyond. NASA also uses the term as a title for those selected to join its Astronaut Corps.

Cosmonout

By convention, an astronaut employed by the Russian Aviation and Space Agency (or its Soviet predecessor) is called a cosmonaut in English texts.[13] The word is an anglicisation of the Russian word космонавт (transliteration: kosmonavt, IPA [kəsmʌˈnaft]), which in turn derives from the Greek words kosmos (universe) and nautes (sailor). For the most part, "cosmonaut" and "astronaut" are synonyms in all languages, and the usage of choice is often dictated by political reasons.On March 14, 1995, astronaut Norman Thagard became the first American to ride to space on board a Russian launch vehicle, arguably becoming the first "American cosmonaut" in the process.