astronaut
noun
as·tro·naut
ˈa-strə-ˌnȯt 
-ˌnät
plural astronauts
: a person whose profession is to travel beyond the earth's atmosphere
NASA on Wednesday introduced the group of astronauts it has chosen for upcoming missions to the moon. The program, called Artemis, aims to send people back to the moon for the first time since the end of NASA's Apollo program in 1972.—
Kenneth Chang
Kenneth Chang
broadly
: any person who travels beyond the earth's atmosphere
William Shatner, the 90-year-old actor of "Star Trek" fame, endured a 10-minute, rocket-powered ride to the edge of space … . In that moment, at least one thing became certain: Yes, a nonagenarian can be an astronaut. —Jackie Wattles
Jackie Wattles 
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The film does feature an intriguing central performance in Megan Northam’s Elsa, a young woman still grieving the loss of her brother, Franck, a young French astronaut who went to space and never came back.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 8 Nov. 2024
Its major competitor, Boeing, is having serious problems with spacecraft that NASA has contracted to carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station.
—Cnn.com, The Mercury News, 7 Nov. 2024
The American government is already relying on SpaceX to fly astronauts to space, provide satellite internet for operations across the U.S. military, and help realize its plans to return to the moon.
—Marina Koren, The Atlantic, 5 Nov. 2024
The Apollo Guidance Computer, which helped land astronauts on the moon, had only 72 KB of ROM and 4 KB of RAM—far less than basic modern devices.
—Yuval Boger, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024
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Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 8 Nov. 2024
Its major competitor, Boeing, is having serious problems with spacecraft that NASA has contracted to carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station.
—Cnn.com, The Mercury News, 7 Nov. 2024
The American government is already relying on SpaceX to fly astronauts to space, provide satellite internet for operations across the U.S. military, and help realize its plans to return to the moon.
—Marina Koren, The Atlantic, 5 Nov. 2024
The Apollo Guidance Computer, which helped land astronauts on the moon, had only 72 KB of ROM and 4 KB of RAM—far less than basic modern devices.
—Yuval Boger, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for astronaut
Dictionary Entries Near astronaut
Cite this Entry
“Astronaut.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/astronaut. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.
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astronaut
noun
as·tro·naut
ˈas-trə-ˌnȯt
-nät
: a traveler in a spacecraft
astronautic
adjective
ˌas-trə-ˈnȯt-ik
or astronautical
-i-kəl,
-nät-
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