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

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

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

Former military university professor Zhu will serve as spaceflight engineer while Gui, a professor at Beihang University, will serve as the payload specialist on the mission, managing science experiments at the space station.

From Reuters

“We operate as a crew,” says Administrator Bill Nelson, who flew himself in 1986 as a payload specialist, about his immediate team, Col.

From Washington Post

In 1986, he was a payload specialist aboard the space shuttle Columbia.

From Washington Times