How the archive works
The rules behind connected records, classifications, source review, names, uncertainty, and ongoing archive maintenance.
People, missions, vehicles, events, and terminology are linked so each record can be explored in context. Relationships point visitors to the relevant archive pages without replacing the source-backed history recorded on each page.
Professional identifies people selected or employed by a government agency or institutional astronaut corps. Private identifies commercially sponsored or privately selected participants. Unflown means no launch into space is documented, even when assignments or backup work are listed.
Mission facts and biographies prefer official agencies, operators, manufacturers, archives, universities, museums, and scientific institutions. Sparse records stay explicit about uncertainty instead of filling gaps with invented detail.
Display names preserve supported spelling and diacritics. Alternate romanizations, reordered names, former names, initials, and common spellings remain searchable aliases. Similar transliterations are not merged without corroborating identity evidence.
A useful correction includes the page URL, the exact field or sentence, why it appears wrong, and an official or institutional source. Changes are checked against connected people, mission, vehicle, and event records before publication. Active missions and crew assignments receive more frequent review than stable historical dossiers.
AstronautAtlas records the best supportable account as of its review date. A source changing does not automatically rewrite a record; it creates a review task so context and prior assignments are not accidentally erased.
One public summary for each day with material archive changes. Days without an archive update are omitted.
Reduced server-side work across AstronautAtlas by moving core record pages and reviewed media fallbacks onto cacheable static delivery.
Standardized archive directories and vehicle result layouts, replaced mission-style vehicle statuses with lifecycle language, refined flight-total guidance, and expanded the reviewed official portrait collection.
Resolved the remaining missing portraits for flown people, expanded reviewed commercial-spaceflight imagery, and completed another verified media-staging pass.
Expanded component dossiers, strengthened mission-to-vehicle navigation, and added guarded workflows for reviewed media delivery and manual image intake.
Reworked large program archives into compact, connected experiences while establishing repeatable media, accessibility, evidence, and editorial-quality checks.
Graduated all 1,168 mission records to permanent family audit ownership and deepened the mission archive without leaving records in the completion queue.
Expanded the connected archive, improved mobile card density, clarified flight accounting, and prepared the archive for reproducible media delivery.
Need a definition while browsing? Visit the spaceflight glossary.