A hatch or opening in a spacecraft designed to allow astronauts to exit or enter for space walks and external repairs.
Compound of 'astro-' (star/space) + 'hatch' (an opening in a ship or aircraft). This is primarily space-age terminology, emerging in the mid-20th century with manned spaceflight programs.
NASA engineers called it an 'airlock' or 'hatch,' but 'astrohatch' perfectly captures how we naming things that go to space by just adding 'astro-' to Earth terms—like how ancient sailors added 'hydro-' for water-related equipment!
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