Crew-5 Mission Will See Russian Cosmonaut Fly Aboard US Spacecraft for First Time Since 2002 Written 5 October 2022
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SpaceX Crew-5 astronauts. From left are Anna Kikina, mission specialist; Josh Cassada, pilot; Nicole Mann, spacecraft commander; and Koichi Wakata, mission specialist with JAXA | Credit: SpaceX; NASA
CBS News reports, “Despite frigid U.S.-Russian relations, cosmonaut Anna Kikina is poised to become the first Russian to launch on an American rocket in nearly two decades and the first to fly aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon ferry ship for a flight to the International Space Station.” On her involvement in the mission, Kikina said, “My leaders just [appointed] me and told me, do you want to be part of Crew 5? Yes! Why not? But I was so surprised.” CBS reports, “Kikina originally expected to fly aboard a Soyuz. But she was assigned to Crew 5 after NASA and Roscosmos, the Russian federal space agency, agreed on a new seat-swap plan intended to ensure at least one U.S. astronaut and one Russian cosmonaut are on board the station at all times.”
Full Story (CBS News)