alexander koryagin wrote to Roy Witt:   
      
    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"   
    ak>>> is a registered term next to "sputnik." Beside this, "astronaut"   
    ak>>> IMHO is too pompous and incorrect word.   
      
    RW>> Astro has been in use for centurys, as in astrology and many other   
    RW>> endeavors.   
      
    ak>    In Russian understanding, when we use ending "naut" we imply that   
    ak> a person travels somewhere, and the first part of the word tells us   
    ak> where. For instance, an aeronaut - a person traveling in air; an   
    ak> aquanaut, in water; an astronaut - a person traveling between stars   
    ak> (that's why it is, for a while, an incorrect term). An alconaut - is   
    ak> a person who drinks often. ;=)   
      
   That's the same way that naut is used in the English language. Also in   
   English, astro- means 'outer space' not specifically 'stars'...the study   
   of the stars is called astrology, while the study of astrometry is of a   
   celestial body, such as Mars or the Sun.   
      
    ak>    Accordingly, if a spaceship travels between planets we call it   
    ak> "planetolet" - a planetprobe vehicle; if it flies between stars we   
    ak> call it "zvezdolet" (a starprobe vehicle).   
      
   We would use 'planetary travel' and the vehicle a 'space ship'. Don't know   
   how you could fly between stars, as your space vehicle would be destroyed   
   before it could begin moving. However, you can travel 'among' the stars,   
   meaning you're really not going to go to a star, just travel by them.   
      
    RW>> Whoever heard of the term, cosmostrolgy, being used to describe the   
    RW>> practice of astrology?   
      
    ak>    Well, IMHO cosmos is a more general term. After leaving the Earth,   
    ak> and we are in cosmos.   
      
   By leaving the Earth's atmosphere, one is in space...as an astronaut   
   would be.   
      
    ak> We can orbit the Earth, we can (theoretically) fly to any part of the   
    ak> Universe - so cosmonaut is a more correct term. It is too earlier   
    ak> (and IMHO because of this funny) to call themselves astronauts.   
      
   Your opinion is noted, but in my opinion, it is in error.   
      
    AH>>>> "Astronaut" is certainly in more common use where I come from. It   
    AH>>>> 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   
    ak>>> guys as astronauts, but the Russian guys are always cosmonauts.   
    ak>>> Maybe the Russian people know astronomy well, and they think that   
    ak>>> "astronaut" sounds funny comparatively with the distance of modern   
    ak>>> space flights.   
    RW>> Were they among the 3 Kings that traveled by star to Bethlehem?   
      
    ak>    But they didn't fly between stars.   
      
   But they did use the star as a guiding light. Thus they used astrology and   
   astrometry to guide them. Astro- doesn't mean 'fly between stars'...   
      
    AH>>>> The advantage of using "astronaut" is that there is no confusion   
    AH>>>> over what the author meant; the disadvantage is that we may need   
    AH>>>> to use at least one more word to indicate the country. OTOH, the   
    AH>>>> advantage of using "cosmonaut" is its economy; the disadvantage   
    AH>>>> is that it may mean different things to different people. If a   
    AH>>>> cosmonaut = a Russian astronaut, "Russian cosmonaut" is a serious   
    AH>>>> redundancy which I'd (basically) treat as an error. Until there's   
    AH>>>> more general agreement as to the definition of "cosmonaut",   
    AH>>>> however, I'll let it pass. :-))   
    ak>>> "Russian cosmonaut" is as correct as "Russian/American sputnik".   
    RW>> I'd believe Russian Sputnik... Americans used Freedom to name our   
    RW>> 1st space vehicles. Freedom 7 carried Alan Shepard into space. He   
    RW>> was also the first man to walk on the Moon.   
      
    ak>    "Sputnik" is not a name. "Sputnik" is just a Russian word meaning   
    ak> "satellite." Both words are interchangeable. The first Russian   
    ak> sputnik had no name, just number 1. Today, when in the USA they   
    ak> launch a satellite we read in our news that the Americans launched a   
    ak> sputnuk.   
      
    RW>> PS - The first man in space was Joseph Kittinger - in a balloon   
    RW>> (USA) 8^)   
      
    ak>    But space is above 100 km? Isn't it?   
      
   190Km...here's part of a personal account given by Joseph Kittinger that   
   explains it better than I can.   
      
   "Overhead my onion-shaped balloon spread its 200-foot [61-meter] diameter   
   against a black daytime sky. More than 18 1/2 miles [30 kilometers] below   
   lay the cloud-hidden New Mexico desert to which I shortly would   
   parachute."   
      
   "Aerodynamically, space begins about 120 miles [190 kilometers] from   
   earth. Physiologically and psychologically, however, it starts only 12   
   miles [19 kilometers] up, where survival requires elaborate protection   
   against an actual space environment."   
      
   It is a very interesting adventure...   
      
   http://tinyurl.com/98qgvde   
      
      
            R\%/itt   
      
      
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