In recent months there has been a series of push and pull between the NASA/USA And Roscosmos/Russia. To cite just a few events, we recall the indecision of the Russian front on the fate of the partnership linking the agencies to the ISS, the problem of the Russian module Nauka and the anti-satellite test which created a cloud of fragments in orbit. But it’s not all negative news and the last one concerns the cosmonaut Anna Kikina.
The cosmonaut was chosen in these hours as the first Russian astronaut to be able to use one Capsule Crew Dragon Of SpaceX under the NASA/Roscosmos agreements. This will allow both agencies to have seats aboard their respective spacecraft (Crew Dragon and Soyuz) without having to pay additional costs for transportation. The announcement was made by Dmitry RogozinDirector General of the Russian Space Agency.
Anna Kikina: the first cosmonaut to fly with the United States’ Crew Dragon
There are some positive notes in this announcement. We return first of all to less tense relations after the anti-satellite test (desired by the Russian military and probably without the knowledge of Roscosmos). In addition, there will be an exchange of experiences, with the Russians who will be able to learn more about the new American units. THE Crew Dragon Capsules they are currently only used by astronauts Nasa, ESA And JAXA Extension (as well as for the Inspiration4 private mission).
US astronauts will instead return to fly with Soyuz, a practice currently suspended thanks to the possibility of “launch American astronauts from American soil”. These spacecraft are therefore not new to the Americans who used them after the end of the space shuttle program to reach the ISS.
According to Rogozin, Anna Kikina was not yet aware of the news when there was the announcement. The Director General himself wrote “Anna Kikina, as part of the Roscosmos-NASA flight exchange, will fly to the ISS in the fall of 2022 as part of the crew of a US commercial spacecraft. Accordingly, we will include a NASA astronaut in our Soyuz spacecraft crew MS spacecraft”.
Always Anna Kikina was taken as a model to make a Barbie by Mattel
With this information, it is very likely that Kikinah can fly with the Mission Crew-5 scheduled for September/October 2022. The choice of a Crew Dragon is constrained due to the impossibility of using the Boeing capsule. Earlier, Rogozin said SpaceX had reached a good level of experience flying Russian cosmonauts. After that, a parachute of crew dragon during the reentry of Crew-2, it had not inflated right away, the Russian space agency through a spokesperson Instead, he said that “Roscosmos will send a request to NASA about this situation. It is important to make a decision on the flight exchange”. Then everything worked out for the best.
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