astronaut

views updated

astronaut (Rus. cosmonaut) Person who navigates or rides in a space vehicle. The first man to orbit the Earth was the Russian Yuri Gagarin in 1961. The first man to walk on the Moon was the American Neil Armstrong in 1969. The first woman in space was the Russian Valentina Tereshkova in 1963.

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios; http://www.spacefacts.de/english/bio_cosm.htm

More From encyclopedia.com

About this article

astronaut

Updated About encyclopedia.com content Print Article

Related Content

NEARBY TERMS

astronaut