Astronaut

From The Book of THoTH (Leaves of Wisdom)

An astronaut, cosmonaut (Russian: космона́вт), spationaut or taikonaut (Chinese: taikongren, 太空人) is a person who travels into space, or who makes a career of doing so. The criteria for determining who has achieved human spaceflight vary (see edge of space). In the United States, people who travel above an altitude of 50 miles (80 km) are designated as astronauts. The FAI defines spaceflight as over 100 km (62 miles). As of March 30, 2006, a total of 449 humans have reached space according to the U.S. definition, 443 people qualify under the FAI definition, while 439 people have reached Earth orbit or beyond. These individuals have spent over 28,000 crew-days (or a cumulative total of over 77 years) in space including over 100 crew-days of spacewalks. A person who has traveled in space is said to hold astronaut wings. Astronauts from at least 35 countries have gone into space.