alexander koryagin wrote to Ardith Hinton:   
      
    AH>>           As native speakers of English you & I would probably say   
    AH>> "astronaut". Although some sources define "cosmonaut" simply as   
    AH>> "astronaut", the majority of my usual references define it as "a   
    AH>> Russian astronaut".   
      
    ak> Well, but the USSR was the first in space, so its term "cosmonaut" is   
    ak> a registered term next to "sputnik." Beside this, "astronaut" IMHO is   
    ak> too pompous and incorrect word.   
      
   Astro has been in use for centurys, as in astrology and many other   
   endeavors.   
      
   Whoever heard of the term, cosmostrolgy, being used to describe the   
   practice of astrology?   
      
    ak> BTW, Chinese astronaut is "taikongnaut." (taikong (space) and the   
    ak> Greek naut)   
      
   8^)   
      
    AH>>           "Astronaut" is certainly in more common use where I come   
    AH>> from.   
    AH>>  It is less specific than "cosmonaut", and thus we may have to   
    AH>> qualify it sometimes... but I wouldn't go so far as to say   
    AH>> "cosmonaut" is incorrect.  I guess Alexander is more familiar with   
    AH>> the Russian word.   
      
    ak> If in Russia we tell a space story we always call the American guys   
    ak> as astronauts, but the Russian guys are always cosmonauts. Maybe the   
    ak> Russian people know astronomy well, and they think that "astronaut"   
    ak> sounds funny comparatively with the distance of modern space flights.   
      
   Were they among the 3 Kings that traveled by star to Bethlehem?   
      
    AH>>           The advantage of using "astronaut" is that there is no   
    AH>> confusion over what the author meant; the disadvantage is that we   
    AH>> may need to use at least one more word to indicate the country.   
    AH>> OTOH, the advantage of using "cosmonaut" is its economy; the   
    AH>> disadvantage is that it may mean different things to different   
    AH>> people.  If a cosmonaut = a Russian astronaut, "Russian cosmonaut"   
    AH>> is a serious redundancy which I'd (basically) treat as an error.   
    AH>> Until there's more general agreement as to the definition of   
    AH>> "cosmonaut", however, I'll let it pass.  :-))   
      
    ak> "Russian cosmonaut" is as correct as "Russian/American sputnik".   
      
   I'd believe Russian Sputnik...Americans used Freedom to name our 1st space   
   vehicles. Freedom 7 carried Alan Shepard into space. He was also the first   
   man to walk on the Moon.   
      
   PS - The first man in space was Joseph Kittinger - in a balloon (USA) 8^)   
      
      
            R\%/itt   
      
      
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