Editing Astronaut (section)

===Other terms===
With the rise of [[space tourism]], [[NASA]] and the [[Russian Federal Space Agency]] agreed to use the term "[[spaceflight participant]]" to distinguish those space travelers from professional astronauts on missions coordinated by those two agencies.

[[File:Expedition 47 Soyuz TMA-19M Landing (NHQ201606180038).jpg|thumb|right|[[Finnish American]] astronaut [[Timothy Kopra]]]]
While no nation other than Russia (and previously the Soviet Union), the United States, and China have launched a crewed spacecraft, several other nations have sent people into space in cooperation with one of these countries, e.g. the Soviet-led [[Interkosmos]] program. Inspired partly by these missions, other synonyms for astronaut have entered occasional English usage. For example, the term ''spationaut'' ({{langx|fr|link=no|spationaute}}) is sometimes used to describe French space travelers, from the [[Latin]] word {{lang|la|spatium}} for "space"; the [[Malay language|Malay]] term {{lang|ms|angkasawan}} (deriving from ''[[Akasha|angkasa]]'' meaning 'space') was used to describe participants in the [[Angkasawan program]] (note its similarity with the [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]] term ''antariksawan''). Plans of the [[Indian Space Research Organisation]] to launch its crewed [[Gaganyaan]] spacecraft have spurred at times public discussion if another term than ''astronaut'' should be used for the crew members, suggesting ''vyomanaut'' (from the [[Sanskrit]] word {{lang|sa-Latn|vyoman}} meaning 'sky' or 'space') or ''gagannaut'' (from the Sanskrit word {{lang|sa-Latn|gagan}} for 'sky').<ref name="Ananthaswamy 2010">{{cite web | last=Ananthaswamy | first=Anil | title=Wanted: four 'vyomanauts' for Indian spaceflight | website=New Scientist | date=January 5, 2010 | url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18338-wanted-four-vyomanauts-for-indian-spaceflight/ | access-date=February 20, 2022 | archive-date=20 February 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220191920/https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18338-wanted-four-vyomanauts-for-indian-spaceflight/amp/ | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Mukunth 2018">{{cite web | last=Mukunth | first=Vasudevan | title=Infinite in All Directions: A Science Workshop and Why Vyomanaut Is Not Cool | website=The Wire | date=August 23, 2018 | url=https://m.thewire.in/article/the-sciences/infinite-in-all-directions-a-science-workshop-and-why-vyomanaut-is-not-cool | access-date=February 20, 2022 | archive-date=20 February 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220191922/https://m.thewire.in/article/the-sciences/infinite-in-all-directions-a-science-workshop-and-why-vyomanaut-is-not-cool | url-status=live }}</ref> In [[Finland]], the NASA astronaut [[Timothy Kopra]], a [[Finnish Americans|Finnish American]], has sometimes been referred to as {{lang|fi|sisunautti}}, from the [[Finnish language|Finnish]] word {{lang|fi|[[sisu]]}}.<ref>{{cite web | title = "Sisunautti" haaveilee uudesta Suomen-matkasta | publisher = [[MTV3]] | author = MTV Uutiset | date = 1 November 2009 | url = https://www.mtv.fi/uutiset/ulkomaat/artikkeli/sisunautti-haaveilee-uudesta-suomen-matkasta/2174370#gs.XWGxvao | access-date = 10 April 2018 | archive-date = 16 August 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180816195043/https://www.mtv.fi/uutiset/ulkomaat/artikkeli/sisunautti-haaveilee-uudesta-suomen-matkasta/2174370#gs.XWGxvao | url-status = dead }}</ref> Across Germanic languages, the word for "astronaut" typically translates to "space traveler", as it does with German's ''Raumfahrer'', Dutch's ''ruimtevaarder'', Swedish's ''rymdfarare'', and Norwegian's ''romfarer''.

For its [[2022 European Space Agency Astronaut Group|2022 Astronaut Group]], the European Space Agency envisioned recruiting an astronaut with a physical disability, a category they called "parastronauts", with the intention but not guarantee of spaceflight.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Parastronaut feasibility project|url=https://www.esa.int/About_Us/Careers_at_ESA/ESA_Astronaut_Selection/Parastronaut_feasibility_project|access-date=18 February 2021|website=[[ESA]]|archive-date=16 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210216114610/https://www.esa.int/About_Us/Careers_at_ESA/ESA_Astronaut_Selection/Parastronaut_feasibility_project|url-status=live}}</ref> The categories of disability considered for the program were individuals with lower limb deficiency (either through amputation or congenital), leg length difference, or a short stature (less than {{convert|130|cm|ftin|disp=or}}).<ref>{{Cite web|last=Parsonson|first=Andrew|url=https://spacenews.com/parastronaut-sought-as-esa-recruits-its-first-new-astronauts-in-more-than-a-decade/|title='Parastronaut' sought as ESA recruits its first new astronauts in more than a decade|website=[[SpaceNews]]|date=16 February 2021|access-date=23 November 2022}}</ref> On 23 November 2022, [[John McFall (athlete)|John McFall]] was selected to be the first ESA parastronaut;<ref>{{cite web|last=Amos|first=Jonathan|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-63730022|title=Disabled man joins European Space Agency's astronaut programme|work=[[BBC News]]|date=23 November 2022|access-date=23 November 2022|archive-date=23 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123154013/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-63730022|url-status=live}}</ref> he has rejected the use of the term.<ref>{{cite web|website=[[The Guardian]] |last1=Devlin |first1=Hannah |title=British Paralympian is first person with physical disability cleared for space mission |date=14 February 2025 |access-date=17 March 2025 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/feb/14/british-paralympian-first-person-physical-disability-space-mission }}</ref>

As of 2021 in the United States, astronaut status is conferred on a person depending on the authorizing agency:
* one who flies in a vehicle above {{convert|50|mi}} for NASA or the military is considered an ''astronaut'' (with no qualifier)
* one who flies in a vehicle to the International Space Station in a mission coordinated by NASA and [[Roscosmos]] is a ''spaceflight participant''
* one who flies above {{convert|50|mi}} in a non-NASA vehicle as a crewmember and demonstrates activities during flight that are essential to public safety, or contribute to human space flight safety, is considered a ''commercial astronaut'' by the [[Federal Aviation Administration]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Commercial Astronaut Wings Program |url=https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/programs/astronaut_wings/ |website=United States Department of Transportation |publisher=Office of Commercial Space Transportation |access-date=16 July 2019 |archive-date=16 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190716015139/https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/programs/astronaut_wings/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
* one who flies to the International Space Station as part of a "privately funded, dedicated commercial spaceflight on a commercial launch vehicle dedicated to the mission ... to conduct approved commercial and marketing activities on the space station (or in a commercial segment attached to the station)" is considered a ''private astronaut'' by NASA<ref>{{cite web |last1=Elburn |first1=Darcy |title=Private Astronaut Missions |url=https://www.nasa.gov/leo-economy/private-astronaut-missions |website=nasa.gov |date=29 May 2019 |publisher=National Aeronautics and Space Administration |access-date=16 July 2019 |archive-date=14 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614124620/https://www.nasa.gov/leo-economy/private-astronaut-missions/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> (as of 2020, nobody has yet qualified for this status)
* a generally-accepted but unofficial term for a paying non-crew passenger who flies a private non-NASA or military vehicles above {{convert|50|mi}} is a ''space tourist'' (as of 2020{{update inline|date=January 2023}}, nobody has yet qualified for this status{{Dubious|date=April 2025}})

On July 20, 2021, the FAA issued an order redefining the eligibility criteria to be an astronaut in response to the private suborbital spaceflights of [[Jeff Bezos]] and [[Richard Branson]].<ref>{{cite web |title=FAA Order 8800.2 |url=https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Order/FAA_Order_8800.2.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Order/FAA_Order_8800.2.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |website=Federal Aviation Administration |access-date=30 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Rivera |first1=Josh |title=Sorry, Jeff Bezos, you're still not an astronaut, according to the FAA |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2021/07/25/jeff-bezos-federal-aviation-administration-astronaut-wings/8087596002/ |access-date=30 July 2021 |work=USA Today |date=July 25, 2021 |archive-date=29 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210729092720/https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2021/07/25/jeff-bezos-federal-aviation-administration-astronaut-wings/8087596002/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The new criteria states that one must have "[d]emonstrated activities during flight that were essential to public safety, or contributed to
human space flight safety" to qualify as an astronaut. This new definition excludes Bezos and Branson.