Commercial astronaut Commercial astronaut A commercial astronaut is a person trained to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a privately funded spacecraft. This is distinct from an otherwise non-government astronaut, for example Charlie Walker, who flies while representing a non-government corporation but with funding and/or training coming from government sources. The definition of “astronaut” and the criteria for determining who has achieved human spaceflight vary. The FAI defines spaceflight as any flight over of altitude. In the United States, professional, military, and commercial astronauts who travel above an altitude of are eligible to be awarded astronaut wings. Until 2003,
Chinese as a foreign language prolific Chinese writer. With his wide command of the language, Ricci impressed the Chinese literati and was accepted as one of them, much to the advantage of his missionary work. Several scientific works he authored or co-authored were collected in the "Siku Quanshu", the imperial collection of Chinese classics. Some of his religious works were listed in the collection's bibliography, but not collected. Ricci and Ruggieri, with the help of the Chinese Jesuit Lay Brother Sebastiano Fernandez (also spelled Fernandes; 1562–1621), are thought to have created the first Portuguese-Chinese dictionary some time between 1583 and 1588. Later, while travelling on