Astronaut
Anastronautorcosmonautis a person who goes intoouter space.TheSoviet Unionand countries that it controlled used the word cosmonaut. Western countries including theUnited Statessaid astronaut. Astronauts are also called "taikonauts" inChinaor "spationaute" inFrance.
The first person to go into space was aRussianfrom theSoviet Union.His name wasYuri Gagarin.This happened onApril 12, 1961.The first and second people to walk on theMoonwere theAmericansNeil ArmstrongandBuzz Aldrin.This happened onJuly 20, 1969.No astronauts have gone to the moon since 1972. No people have visited any otherplanetsyet.
Astronauts used to go into space using many different ways, but now they can only go on the AmericanDragon 2,the AmericanStarliner,the RussianSoyuz,or the Chinese Shenzhou. Several countries have worked together to build anInternational Space Stationwhere people stay and work in space for long periods of time.
A few countries and companies are trying to make more ways to get people into space. The United States is building a very big rocket called theSpace Launch System.A United States company called SpaceX is also building a very large rocket called "Starship"that is fully reusable and could take people toMarsandfurther.Some American companies, for exampleBoeing,Lockheed MartinandSpaceX,are being paid by the United States to make ways for people to go to space.
