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a person engaged in or trained for spaceflight.
Contemporary Examples

There will be the first doctor, whoever does it.The first astronaut, whoever does it.
Jerry Springer Wants His Privacy Lloyd Grove April 17, 2010

“If I had said I wanted to be an astronaut, they would have been like ‘Do it’,” Rivers told me.
Joan Rivers: ‘Death Is Like Plastic Surgery’ Tim Teeman September 3, 2014

I am also having an astronaut come with me to some of the classrooms this week.
The First Lady of 2012? Meghan McCain March 21, 2009

That cylinder is in a chamber within the satellite, not unlike an astronaut aboard the International Space Station.
The Equivalence Principle and Testing Einstein With Spaceships and Atoms Matthew R. Francis June 3, 2014

“As soon as cowboy and astronaut were out of the picture, I knew I wanted to write,” he says.
Reading the Detective David Goodwillie June 8, 2011

I spoke about Galactic to a NASA astronaut (who cannot be named as a matter of NASA policy).
Branson’s Galactic Obstacles: Tom Bower Puts a Damper on Virgin’s Space Flight Dreams Clive Irving January 29, 2014

The NASA astronaut did more for adult diapers than Depends spokeswoman Lisa Rinna ever could.
Paula Broadwell, Eminem, & More Spurned Lovers Who Went Ballistic Paula Froelich November 14, 2012

Armstrong recounts how he cheated death while he trained to be an astronaut.
Rare Neil Armstrong Interview: The Astronaut on NASA, His Moon Landing & More Daniel Stone May 23, 2012

Historical Examples

Of course, ground control was to be used only if the astronaut failed to ignite the retro-rockets himself.
Egocentric Orbit John Cory

The astronaut fell victim to a psychological stress that was unforeseen.
Ten From Infinity Paul W. Fairman

noun
a person trained for travelling in space See also cosmonaut
n.

coined 1929 in science fiction, popularized from 1961 by U.S. space program, from astro- + nautes “sailor” (see naval). French astronautique (adj.) had been coined 1927 by “J.H. Rosny,” pen name of Belgian-born science fiction writer Joseph Henri Honoré Boex (1856-1940) on model of aéronautique, and Astronaut was used in 1880 as the name of a fictional spaceship by English writer Percy Greg (1836-1889) in “Across the Zodiac.”

A crew member of a space mission launched by the United States. (See Apollo program and Mercury program.)