Editing Astronaut (section)

== Definition ==
[[File:Alan Shepard in capsule aboard Freedom 7 before launch.jpg|upright|thumb|[[Alan Shepard]] aboard [[Mercury-Redstone 3|''Freedom&nbsp;7'']] (1961)]]

The criteria for what constitutes [[human spaceflight]] vary, with some focus on the point where the atmosphere becomes so thin that [[centrifugal force]], rather than [[aerodynamic force]], carries a significant portion of the weight of the flight object. The {{lang|fr|[[Fédération Aéronautique Internationale]]|italic=no}} (FAI) Sporting Code for astronautics recognizes only flights that exceed the [[Kármán line]], at an altitude of {{convert|100|km|mi|sp=us}}.<ref name="fai">{{cite web |url = https://www.fai.org/sites/default/files/documents/sporting_code_section_8_edition_2009.pdf |title = FAI Sporting Code, Section 8, Paragraph 2.18.1 |date = 22 May 2012 |access-date = 9 January 2021 |archive-date = 7 November 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171107031341/https://www.fai.org/sites/default/files/documents/sporting_code_section_8_edition_2009.pdf |url-status = live }}</ref> In the United States, professional, military, and commercial astronauts who travel above an altitude of {{convert|80|km|mi}}<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/news/NewsReleases/2005/05-57.html |title = X-15 Space Pioneers Now Honored as Astronauts |first = Mary |last = Whelan |date = 5 June 2013 |access-date = 25 February 2009 |archive-date = 11 June 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170611194526/https://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/news/NewsReleases/2005/05-57.html |url-status = live }}</ref> are awarded [[Astronaut Badge|astronaut wings]].

{{As of|2016|November|17}}, 552 people from [[Timeline of space travel by nationality|36 countries]] have reached {{convert|100|km|0|abbr=on}} or more in altitude, of whom 549 reached [[low Earth orbit]] or beyond.<ref name="stats1">{{cite web|url=http://www.worldspaceflight.com/bios/stats.php|title=Astronaut/Cosmonaut Statistics|access-date=17 November 2016|website=www.worldspaceflight.com|archive-date=3 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103025015/http://www.worldspaceflight.com/bios/stats.php|url-status=live}}</ref>
Of these, [[List of Apollo astronauts|24 people]] have traveled beyond low Earth orbit, either to lunar orbit, the lunar surface, or, in one case, a loop around the [[Moon]].{{NoteTag|[[Apollo 13]] had to abort an intended lunar landing, and looped around the Moon to return its three astronauts to Earth.}} Three of the 24—[[Jim Lovell]], [[John Watts Young|John Young]] and [[Eugene Cernan]]—did so twice.<ref name="hundred">{{cite web |url = http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/factoids/hundred.htm |title = NASA's First 100 Human Space Flights |access-date = 4 October 2007 |publisher=NASA |author=NASA |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070827140010/http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/factoids/hundred.htm |archive-date=27 August 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

{{As of|2016|November|17}}, under the U.S. definition, 558 people qualify as having reached space, above {{convert|50|mi|km}} altitude. Of eight [[X-15]] pilots who exceeded {{convert|50|mi|km}} in altitude, only one, [[Joseph A. Walker]], exceeded 100 kilometers (about 62.1 miles) and he did it two times, becoming the first person in space twice.<ref name="stats1" /> Space travelers have spent over 41,790 [[Man hour|man-days]] (114.5-man-years) in space, including over 100 astronaut-days of [[extravehicular activity|spacewalks]].<ref name="stats">{{cite web|url=http://www.astronautix.com/articles/aststics.htm|title=Astronaut Statistics – as of 14 November 2008|access-date=4 October 2007|publisher=Encyclopedia Astronautica|year=2007|author=Encyclopedia Astronautica|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930195311/http://www.astronautix.com/articles/aststics.htm|archive-date=30 September 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="void">{{cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/workinginspace/eva_stats.html|title=Walking in the Void|access-date=4 October 2007|publisher=NASA|year=2004|author=NASA|archive-date=6 January 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080106093433/http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/workinginspace/eva_stats.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> {{As of|2024}}, the man with the longest cumulative time in space is [[Oleg Kononenko]], who has spent over 1100 days in space.<ref>
{{cite news
| last1        = Kekatos
| first1       = Mary
| last2        = Sunseri
| first2       = Gina
| date         = 5 June 2024
| title        = Russian cosmonaut becomes 1st person to spend 1,000 cumulative days in space
| url          = https://abcnews.go.com/International/russian-cosmonaut-1st-person-spend-1000-cumulative-days/story?id=110855646
| url-status   = live
| work         = abc News
| archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20240808005013/https://abcnews.go.com/International/russian-cosmonaut-1st-person-spend-1000-cumulative-days/story?id=110855646
| archive-date = 8 August 2024
| access-date  = 13 September 2024
}}</ref> [[Peggy Whitson|Peggy A. Whitson]] holds the record for the most time in space by a woman, at 675 days.<ref name="paw">{{cite web |url = http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/whitson.html | title = Peggy A. Whitson (PhD) | work = Biographical Data | publisher = [[NASA|National Aeronautics and Space Administration]] | author=NASA | access-date = 13 May 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080509130749/http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/whitson.html | archive-date = 9 May 2008 | url-status=live}}</ref>