jag fattar inte riktigt vad den här tråden handlar om.
men astronaut är väl inspirerat av den grekiska mytologins argonauter som visserligen var sjöfarare på skeppet argus, men också hjältar och utforskare som gav sig i väg för att hitta det gyllene skinnet.
"Thus the etymology of “argonaut” has become synonymous with “adventurer on a quest” and is reflected in words like: astronaut, cosmonaut, aeronaut, aquanaut and oneironaut (dream adventurer). In fact, it is very popular to use naut (from the Greek ναυτίλος “nautilus” meaning “sailor”) as a suffix to just about any word, implying being a voyager of that given subject, e.g. bikenaut."
http://theargonauts.com/about/what-is-an-argonaut/