What Constitutes an "Astronaut" in Popular Science Fiction?

GWC Community Off-Topic/Other
#1

From Merriam Webster:

Astronaut - a person who travels beyond the earth’s atmosphere; also : a trainee for spaceflight

Latin, and correct me if I’m wrong:

Astro: Star
Naut: Sailor

Ignoring the fact that there is no “Earth” in Star Wars… I asked my brother if a storm trooper on the Death Star is an astronaut.

He: By current definition, maybe. In context, no. Space travel is pedestrian. They have no understanding or responsibility for the fact that they are in space. They understand that they are in space, but they don’t have an understanding of the technology that put them in space any more than your dog understands your truck.

My response was to wonder if Han and Chewie are astronauts. They

  1. Demonstrate an understanding of the technology by their ability to repair it.
  2. Pilot space ships.
  3. Navigate space ships.

He: They could to an extent repair the technology. I still would put them in the same role as an airline pilot. Highly knowledgeable and skilled, but not living on the edge.

Me: But are they astronauts?

He: The root words mean “Star Sailor”. Han was the imperial equivalent of the Marines. So sure, they were astronauts. The kids say “Not really” and “kinda”.

Me: I lean towards “no” because they didn’t really explore the unknown, Han and Chewie traveled well known routes in well known star systems. So does that make people on the Enterprise astronauts? Or am I getting caught up in the romance of the thing?

So what WOULD constitute an astronaut in Star Wars? Start Trek? I think my definition would have to include interplanetary travel and exploration of the unknown with significant risk to self. Perhaps inter-dimensional since interplanetary travel has become ‘pedestrian’ as he so eloquently put it.

And by that definition the Star Gate crew are astronauts. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Ugh…

So does anyone have an opinion on this?

#2

It’s probably wrong but to me, a strong part of someone being an astronaut is that it’s a rare thing. At some point, if we’re lucky as a species, eventually living in space will be far more typical and those who do it won’t be considered “astronauts” but instead “pilots” and “engineers” and “mechanics” and whatnot.

Sure, they’ll still technically be astronauts just like my car is technically a horseless carriage.

#3

To me Chewie and Han are smugglers, not astronauts. Just as Ripley and her crew in Aliens were ‘space truckers’, not astronauts. One could argue that the crew of the Enterprise are astronauts in that they are exploring unknown space, facing dangerous anomalies and potentially hostile races. But I view them more as Explorers than astronauts, just as I would view Magellan more as an Explorer than a ‘Sailor’. In a civilization where space travel is commonplace, or has even become a form of everyday commerce the term astronaut would probably become obsolete; or at the very least archaic.

#4

I guess it’s all about perspective. I do not travel often, but I have been to many cities in my life. Today, I would not be considered a “traveler” but compared to the people in the past (or even present in some parts of the world) who spend their entire life in one town, I would be a seasoned “traveler”. A word like Astronaut would probably change meaning over the course decades/centuries as space travel became more common.