Astronauts
Astronauts are people who have received training and are equipped to travel into space. They can work as crew members or command a spacecraft. In many cases, they are members of the military. However, there are also commercial astronauts, Taikonauts, and Mission Specialists. These people are the most important part of the space program.
Mission Specialist astronauts
Mission Specialist astronauts are required to have bachelor's degrees in the technical fields and a minimum of three years of professional experience. These requirements are similar to those for pilot candidates. The primary requirement is a bachelor's degree in a technical field. However, advanced degrees are highly sought-after. A doctoral degree or master's degree can replace three years of relevant professional experience.
Mission specialists are trained to work in space and conduct various critical tasks. They also undergo a rigorous training program that includes hundreds of hours in a training pool. These astronauts work together on critical tasks to achieve mission objectives. They may also be involved in space station construction, microgravity research, satellite repair, robotic arm operations, remote sensing Earth and the universe, and more.
Mission specialists are required to work closely with the astronaut pilot and the commander to plan, execute, and monitor operations on the space station. They also have to know the technical details of the onboard systems and the supporting equipment for each experiment. They may also conduct spacewalks, which require a great deal of physical fitness.
Commercial astronauts
Commercial astronauts are people who have commanded or piloted privately-funded spacecraft. They also serve as active crew members in those spacecraft. The term "commercial astronaut" is used to distinguish these individuals from space tourists. There are several different types of commercial astronauts. The most common ones are pilots, commanders, and spacewalkers.
A commercial astronaut should have a bachelor's degree in engineering, experience as a test pilot, and thousands of hours in high-performance jet aircraft. In addition, they should be confident, humble, and understand the workings of a spacecraft. Finally, they should be familiar with emergency procedures and how to respond to them.
In addition to the criteria for becoming a commercial astronaut, the FAA also requires commercial astronauts to show their ability to contribute to the safety of human space flights. The FAA says that this is in line with their mission to protect public safety. This means that the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo flight, which took Sir Richard Branson and his team to the edge of space, is a prime candidate for the Commercial Astronaut Wings program.
Taikonauts
A person trained and equipped for space flight is an astronaut. They can either be a crew member or commander of a spacecraft. Throughout history, Japanese astronauts have been one of the most successful and decorated astronauts. Unlike their Western counterparts, they do not rely on satellites or rockets to travel to space.
China has been developing and testing its own astronaut program. Its first batch of Taikonauts were selected from selected military pilots in the mid-1990s. While only six of them have flown in space, many of the selected Taikonauts have studied at the Russian manned cosmonaut training center. They also took part in spacewalks to install new equipment.
China has also sent its first woman into space, Wang Yaping. She is the first Chinese woman to fly on a space station, and the first Chinese woman to conduct a spacewalk. She was accompanied by two other female astronauts, Ye Guangfu and Zhai Zhigang, and they successfully completed two spacewalks and carried out various tests around the space station. In addition to conducting spacewalks, the crew also gave two live lectures to students on Earth.
