Astronauts Facts for Kids: Star sailor, Cosmonaut and Taikonaut all means the word astronaut, But what is the difference between them?!
Gravity causes the disks in our spine to be compressed together. When an astronaut goes to space there is close to zero-gravity, we call this microgravity. This means that the disks in their spines become decompressed, causing them to become taller. However, this effect is only temporary, when an astronaut comes back to Earth, gravity causes them to return to their original height once again.
Not only does microgravity affect astronauts height but it also causes their hearts to change shape. An astronaut’s heart will become more spherical in shape in space and will change back to normal when they return from space.
Peggy Whitson is a record breaking astronaut. Whitson holds the record for most cumulative days spent in space by a NASA astronaut with 665 days, 22 hours and 22 minutes in space. Peggy Whitson also held the record for the longest single space flight for a woman at 289 days up until 2019. Peggy Whitson was also the first female commander of the International Space Station (ISS).
The word “astronaut” comes from the Greek words “astron nautes” , which means “star sailor.” Although we know them as astronauts, this term isn’t always used. Astronauts can also be known as Cosmonauts and Taikonaut. A Cosmonaut is the name for astronauts trained by the Russian Space Agency and it means “sailor of the universe”, while a Taikonaut is a Chinese astronaut, which in China translates to “space traveller”. Astronauts are trained by either NASA, the ESA, the CSA , or by JAXA.
The differences between these three types of astronauts is quite slim and slightly vary in differences in the selection process, their training, and the spacesuit.
The unnatural atmosphere in space means that bone loss and muscle wastage is a real risk to astronauts. In order to maintain muscle mass and bone density, astronauts must exercise for at least two hours a day. Exercising in space can be difficult due to the lack of gravity. Special equipment is used in order to allow astronauts to exercise. The three pieces of equipment they use are a bicycle, a treadmill, and a weightlifting machine called an Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED).
If an astronaut wants to work onboard the ISS, they must be able to speak, read, and understand the Russian language, as the ISS is split into 2 separate segments, the United States Operating Segment (USOS) and the Russian Segment (RS). All astronauts need to be able to read manuals on the Russian side and communicate with each other.
We hope you enjoyed learning more things about astronauts as much as we loved teaching you about them. Now that you know how majestic these astronauts are, you can move on to learn about our Space like: The Universe, Asteroids and Meteors.
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