Space Exploration Stack Exchange
Space Exploration Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [astronauts]

Questions regarding people present on spacecraft or space stations.

Astronauts are people who are trained to travel in a spacecraft. Depending on the country, they could also be called cosmonauts‎, spationauts, or taikonauts‎.

The first person to travel to space was Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Union. He completed his first orbit on 12 April 1961. Since then more than 560 people have been trained as astronauts.

All questions related to specific astronauts, or astronauts in general, from any nation are appropriate for this tag.

Additional Information:

Astronaut - Wikipedia

List of Astronauts by Country - Wikipedia

How Many People Are In Space Right Now?

286 questions
40
votes
3 answers

Did the Apollo astronauts ever take any medications while on their mission in order to calm their nerves?

Are there any indications that Apollo astronauts took any medication to overcome conditions like fear or claustrophobia? Or did NASA rely purely on training to prepare the astronauts for situations in which average people might have simply freaked…
chris
  • 501
  • 1
  • 4
  • 7
28
votes
4 answers

Did any astronauts on a mission complain about waking up?

A bit of a strange question that comes from "The Martian" - in Chapter 12 is a sequence about the entire crew waking up and some complaining about it. I would expect that on a 31 day mission every second would be planned. What about actual…
Michael Stachowsky
  • 6,250
  • 1
  • 21
  • 40
14
votes
3 answers

Do astronauts live longer than earthlings?

Why is it believed that astronauts live longer than earthlings? So, what I would like to know is that "If the belief is correct". If the belief is correct, how does that happen (what are the principles behind it). And also from the INTERSTELLAR…
Amar
  • 2,246
  • 1
  • 12
  • 35
6
votes
2 answers

Are Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson astronauts?

Are Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson (among others) astronauts? Does any flying to space makes a human an astronaut, also when they are dead weight? Assuming that the definition of space (Kármán line or 50 miles) is irrelevant.
Quora Feans
  • 375
  • 1
  • 9
3
votes
1 answer

Is printing boarding pass to space a common practice?

I saw these boarding passes the other day in JAL museum. Funny enough, since it's printed by JAL, which does not fly to space yet, I guess this should be considered as a correspondence flight :) Picture source: Own work. Is it a common practice to…
Antzi
  • 12,640
  • 2
  • 46
  • 75
2
votes
2 answers

Do astronauts floating in space experience disorientation and how do they overcome it?

Sometimes we experience confusion where the north or south is especially when we are lying down or just awoken from sleep. Do astronauts experience something similar in space? If so, how do they overcome it?
unknownMe
  • 123
  • 3
1
vote
1 answer

Why is the selection process for astronauts so rigorous?

Becoming an astronaut is notoriously difficult, with something on the order of 0.01% of all applicants getting picked for the job. However there are two possible explanations for why this is the case: Because the job of an astronaut is extremely…
JonathanReez
  • 1,071
  • 9
  • 16
1
vote
0 answers

I'm two metres tall. Do I have a chance to be an astronaut?

I am sixteen years old, athletic and very willing to learn to be an astronaut. The only problem is that I am two metres tall. While being tall is great in life, from what I have learned it isn't quite as great in a Soyuz capsule. Do you think I will…
Maitiu Clarke
  • 11
  • 3