The difference between an astronaut and a cosmonaut?

Question by Toki Tahmid: What is the difference between an astronaut & a cosmonaut?
I here these often, but I don’t understand the difference…

Answers and Views:

Answer by WindWalker10
Two letters: “S.R.”

The U.S. space program calls their “space pilots” astronauts.
The former U.S.S.R. space program called them cosmonauts.

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emmettgolf says

Not much. They are both equally nauts enough to strap themselves to a rocket that is then blasted off into space. The astros currently have a slightly better chance of surviving than the cosmos.

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sofarsogood says

Yes, astronaut is the US term, cosmonaut is the Soviet (Russian) term. Get used to hearing a new one too, Chinese astronauts are called "taikonauts", from the Chinese word for astronaut, taikongyuan.

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Martin S says

The only difference is from what country you come from, one is american and one is Russian. I'll let you figure out which is which.

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Vincent G says

The country he/she comes from. US people who went to space called themselves "astronaut", in the former Soviet Union, they decided to call themselves cosmonauts.

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benny says

The same meanings: USA= Astronaut. Russia=Cosmonaut

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Jason says

They're the same thing. Americans call them astronauts and Russians call them cosmonauts.

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braxton_paul says

America calls its spacemen "astronauts"
Russia calls its spacemen "cosmonauts"

The other big difference is in the chances of survival on any given flight 🙂

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