payload specialist

American  

noun

1. an astronaut trained to handle highly complex or classified equipment carried aboard a space shuttle and to conduct experiments in space.

2. a specialist in transporting cargo.

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Etymology

Origin of payload specialist

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

“That cannot be right,” Livingston Holder, a former manned spaceflight engineer with the Air Force and space shuttle payload specialist, recalled thinking when he first heard that fact.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 30, 2026

Mission commander and veteran space pilot Zhang Lu will be accompanied by 32-year-old flight engineer Wu Fei, China's youngest astronaut to undertake a space mission, and payload specialist Zhang Hongzhang, 39.

From Barron's • Oct. 31, 2025

Joining him on Thursday are two Italian colleagues - Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Angelo Landolfi, a physician and flight surgeon, and Pantaleone Carlucci, a research council member acting as flight engineer and payload specialist.

From Reuters • Jun. 28, 2023

As a payload specialist, Gerardi will carry multiple experiments with her on her flight.

From Washington Times • Jul. 17, 2021

When it was announced that John Glenn would return to space as a payload specialist in 1998, an outcry arose.

From "Women in Space" by Karen Bush Gibson