04-11-2002 05:06									#1
	What's the Difference Between Cosmonauts and Astronauts? Browse Apolyton AD-FREE

Is this just a vestige of Cold War?

Educate DanS.

	04-11-2002 05:09									#2
	Re: What's the Difference Between Cosmonauts and Astronauts? Inflate your Upload Space

quote: Originally posted by DanS Is this just a vestige of Cold War? Educate DanS.

Yep.

Not an issue to most people, so probably won't ever be changed. At least, not for a few decades would be my guess.

	04-11-2002 05:11									#3
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Yep. When the Kommies sent Gagarin into space as a cosmonaut, the Amerikos had to come up with another fancy name. The Russians won that one, obviously...

	04-11-2002 05:14									#4
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Oh, but wait a second, Hueij. No Kommies, no Kosmonauts, right?

I think Russia should recognize that "cosmonauts" is a lame throwback to the USSR and change it to something more civilized.

	04-11-2002 05:21									#5
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Cosmonauts sail through space and Astronauts sail to the stars. I don't know what Taikonauts do.

"Cosmonaut" is the better word.

	04-11-2002 05:28									#6
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What are the Chinese going to call their spacemen once they get their act together?

Astronauts is a better word, because it describes a greater struggle--to sail to the stars.

	04-11-2002 06:33									#7
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quote: Originally posted by DanS What are the Chinese going to call their spacemen once they get their act together?

'Commie'-nauts?

Seriously, I don't have any problems with Communists...never bothered me. I'm a believer of Democracy, but not necessarily in pure USA-form. Riddled with problems this government is...

	04-11-2002 09:45									#8
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quote: Originally posted by DanS I think Russia should recognize that "cosmonauts" is a lame throwback to the USSR and change it to something more civilized.

Only after you'll change your already lame "astronauts" to more lame "astro-nuts".

	04-11-2002 09:48									#9
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quote: Originally posted by DanS What are the Chinese going to call their spacemen once they get their act together?

In Chinese, of course.

	04-11-2002 09:54									#10
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"In Chinese, of course."

Touche.

"Only after you'll change your already lame "astronauts" to more lame "astro-nuts"."

Is that a form of trail mix?

	04-11-2002 10:33									#11
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Trail mix?
WTF is that?

	04-11-2002 10:43									#12
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It's a lame joke

	04-11-2002 10:49									#13
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Got it.

Yep. "Astro-nuts' wearing "astro-sneakers".

	04-11-2002 13:51									#14
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What ever happened to the "spacemen" from the 1930's?

	04-11-2002 14:39									#15
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I prefer space-wayfarer myself.

That, or zero-G-ranger.

	04-11-2002 14:47									#16
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I always quite liked "astromen" myself.

	04-11-2002 15:21									#17
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> What's the Difference Between Cosmonauts and Astronauts?

About 400 degrees skin temperature on re-entry.

	04-11-2002 22:45									#18
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Both words are Greek so your answer lies once again in the Greek language.

On with the etymology:

Cosmos in Greek as you propably already know means the world, the universe (and also the people).

Astro(n) in Greek means star.


Nautis (=naute) in Greek means sailor.


So you have a slight different nuance between the two words.

Cosmonaut = sailor of the universe,

Astronaut = sailor of the stars.


Take your pick on which you prefer

	04-11-2002 22:49									#19
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So, what does "Taikonaut" (the Chinese...) mean?

	04-11-2002 22:52									#20
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I have no idea.

Naute is still sailor but I haven't heard "Taiko" before.

It's chinese to me

(The equivalant of "it's all Greek to me" in Greece)

	04-11-2002 22:57									#21
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Here's an explanation however.

quote: What is taikonaut? Taikonaut is the Chinese counterpart for astronaut and cosmonaut. If China become the third country to send men into space using its own rocket and spacecraft, what are they? Astronaut or cosmonaut? Both. Neither. It is reasonable to create a new word to reflect China's independent manned space capability, just like those for American and Russian. How is it created? "Taikong" is a Chinese word that means space or cosmos. The resulted prefix "taiko-" is similar to "astro-" and "cosmo-" that makes three words perfectly symmetric, both in meaning and in form. Removing "g" from "taikong" is to make the word short and easy to pronounce. On the other side, its pronounciation is also close to "taikong ren", the Chinese words "space men". Who use this word first? In May 1998, Mr. Chiew Lee Yih () from Malaysia used it first in newsgroups. Almost at the same time, I used it and announced it at this site. We created this word in parallel, which shows it is probably the best candidate for Chinese spacemen. Why do you renamed the site to "Go Taikonauts!"? The first reason is that the name "Dragon in Space" is too normal, and looks too long as a site name. "Go Taikonauts!" is short, special, and exotic. The second reason is to promote the word "taikonaut" :-) , which is actually the main motive.

	04-11-2002 23:04									#22
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Well, I'll be damned. It does make some sense.

But why mix Chinese and Greek together? That's a recipe for disaster!

	04-11-2002 23:08									#23
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I figure the '-naut' part would keep it a bit more familiar and tie it closer to the other -nauts. Besides, 'kosmo' is AFAIK also a Slavic word...

	04-11-2002 23:21									#24
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Quite propable. But it is a Greek word since it originates from Greek and is used in Greek (duh).

Like the word "Cosmos" in English...

	04-11-2002 23:24									#25
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A very english word...

BTW the mixing of 2 words from 2 different languages, even if they are the most ancient around, does sound a bit cheap but kas got the reason why. Naut is easily recognizable.

oh and here:

Last edited by Bereta_Eder on 04-11-2002 at 23:37

	04-11-2002 23:43									#26
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Yeah, what I meant was that 'kosmo' has a meaning in Russian too. Hence 'kosmo-' <-> 'taiko-'. 'Astro-' is just a ripoff.

	04-11-2002 23:46									#27
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So what? Everything is a ripoff from Greek

Cosmonaut and Astronaut are too.

At least the Chinese have a word of their own in there.

50% original

	04-11-2002 23:58									#28
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What do the other nations call 'em?

	05-11-2002 00:02									#29
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That's just the thing, Smiley. I became curious about this because the Dutch spaceman sent to the Space Station was called an astronaut whereas his Russian co-worker was called a cosmonaut.

	05-11-2002 00:05									#30
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A little late to think that isn't it?

Your guys are also called astronauts...
You had to wait for the Dutch to spark your intellect...