Astronaut ranks and positions

Astronauts hold a variety of ranks and positions, and each of these roles carries unique responsibilities that are integral to the successful operation of a spacecraft. A spacecraft's cockpit, filled with sophisticated equipment, requires skills differing from those used to manage the scientific equipment on board, and so on.

NASA ranks and positions

Ranks

Members of the NASA Astronaut Corps can hold one of two ranks. Astronaut Candidate is the rank of those training to be NASA astronauts.

Upon graduation, candidates are promoted to Astronaut and receive their Astronaut Pin. The pin is issued in two grades, silver and gold, with the silver pin awarded to candidates who have successfully completed astronaut training and the gold pin to astronauts who have flown in space.

Chief of the Astronaut Office is a position, not a rank.

Positions

Position	Duties	Examples	Comments
Mercury
Pilot		Mercury Seven	As a single-seat spacecraft, the astronauts who flew the Mercury missions were referred to simply as "Pilots". Mercury Pilots were required to have experience as a pilot of high-performance jet aircraft and to be no more than 5 feet 11 inches (180 cm) tall and weigh no more than 180 pounds (82 kg).
Gemini
Command Pilot	Overall mission success, safety of crew and spacecraft	James McDivitt	McDivitt was the first rookie Command Pilot.
Pilot		Tom Stafford	Stafford was the first to fly twice on Gemini.
Apollo
Commander	Overall mission success, safety of crew and spacecraft	Neil Armstrong, first man on the Moon Jim Lovell, commander of Apollo 13
Command Module Pilot	Stay aboard command module during lunar excursion	Michael Collins, Pilot of Apollo 11, Vance Brand	Brand trained with the Apollo Spacecraft used for the Apollo-Soyuz mission for the Skylab Rescue mission
Lunar Module Pilot	Responsible for descent and ascent of the Lunar Module	Harrison Schmitt, first scientist in space
Docking Module Pilot		Deke Slayton, Mercury 7 astronaut	Position only used once during Apollo-Soyuz joint mission
Skylab
Commander	Overall mission success, safety of crew and spacecraft	Pete Conrad, first Skylab commander
Pilot
Science Pilot		Joseph P. Kerwin, first physician in space
Space Shuttle
Commander	Overall mission success, safety of crew and Shuttle, maneuvers Shuttle with assistance from Pilot.	John Young, commander of the first shuttle mission	All Shuttle commanders have prior spaceflight experience. Requires a degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics. Must have at least 1000 hours flying experience on a jet aircraft.[1] Must pass a NASA Class I space physical to be certified for flight.[2]
Pilot	Assist the Commander in maneuvering the Shuttle. May be responsible for release and recovery of satellites.	Robert Crippen, flew the first shuttle mission as pilot	Same education and flight experience requirements as a Commander.[3]
Payload Commander (PLC)	A Mission Specialist with additional responsibility for the management of the science or other major payload elements of the mission.[4]	Story Musgrave, Michael P. Anderson	Payload Commanders are always NASA astronauts. Payload Specialists are non-NASA personnel.
Mission Specialist (MS)	A NASA astronaut assigned to a limited field of the mission.	Jerry L. Ross and Franklin Chang-Diaz each flew seven times as Shuttle Mission Specialists.	Must pass a NASA Class II space physical to be certified for flight.[5]
International Mission Specialist	Same as Mission Specialist but may have payload-specific duties assigned by home agency.
Educator Mission Specialist	Same as Mission Specialist but with additional education-related duties.	Joseph M. Acaba, first Puerto Rican astronaut	Position created in 2004 as part of the Educator Astronaut Project.
Payload Specialist	Technical experts who accompany specific payloads such as a commercial or scientific satellites.	Byron K. Lichtenberg, first payload specialist Ulf Merbold, first international payload specialist Charles Walker, flew three times Ilan Ramon, last payload specialist	Term also applied to representatives from partner nations such as Saudi Arabia and Mexico who were given the opportunity to fly on the Space Shuttle.
Manned Spaceflight Engineer	Same as Payload Specialist, but are military personnel who accompany military payloads.	Brett Watterson	With the cancellation of all planned Vandenberg-based Shuttle launches after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, no Manned Spaceflight Engineers flew on Shuttle missions using that title.
Spaceflight Participant	People who travel aboard space missions coordinated by those agencies who are not part of the crew.	Christa McAuliffe, Teacher in Space, Space Shuttle Challenger disaster	This term serves to distinguish tourists and other special travelers from the career astronauts.

RKA ranks and positions

Ranks

After initial training, cosmonauts are assigned as either a test-cosmonaut (космонавт-испытатель, kosmonavt-ispytatel’) or a research-cosmonaut (космонавт-исследователь, kosmonavt-issledovatel’). A test-cosmonaut has a more difficult preparation than a research-cosmonaut and can be the commander or the flight engineer of a spacecraft, while a research-cosmonaut cannot.[6]

Higher ranks include pilot-cosmonaut, test-cosmonaut instructor, and research-cosmonaut instructor.[7]

Pilot-Cosmonaut of the Russian Federation is a title that is presented to all cosmonauts who fly for the Russian space program.

Positions

Position	Duties	Examples	Comments
Vostok
Pilot Cosmonaut	Overall mission success		As a single-seat spacecraft, the cosmonaut who flew the Vostok missions were referred to simply as "Pilot Cosmonauts".
Voskhod
Commander	Overall mission success, safety of crew and spacecraft
Second Pilot
Scientist Cosmonaut
Doctor Cosmonaut
Soyuz
Commander	Overall mission success, safety of crew and spacecraft
Flight Engineer
Spaceflight Participant	No official duties	Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor‎, first Malaysian in space Dennis Tito, first fee-paying space tourist	Term used for Soyuz passengers who are not part of the crew, and serves to distinguish tourists and other special travelers from the career astronauts.

International Space Station positions

Position	Duties	Examples	Comments
Commander	Overall mission success, safety of crew and Station.	Peggy Whitson, first female commander
Flight Engineer
Science Officer	Primary responsibility for station's science experiments. A secondary position for an ISS Flight Engineer.	Peggy Whitson, first science officer	Position established in 2002 by NASA to reinforce science aspect of ISS.
Spaceflight Participant	No formal duties.	Anousheh Ansari, first female space tourist	Term used for ISS visitors who are not part of the crew, and serves to distinguish tourists and other special travelers from the career astronauts.

External links

• Shuttle Commander and Pilot definitions
• Shuttle PLC, MS, and PS definitions