A Russian will probably be launched to the International Space Station in September aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon — the primary time ever that Elon Musk’s firm will transport a cosmonaut on certainly one of its capsules.
Anna Kikina will depart from Kennedy Space Heart in Florida this fall alongside two American astronauts and one from Japan, NASA introduced.
The US area company not too long ago signed an settlement with its Russian counterpart, Roscosmos, to change flights to the ISS. Which means American astronauts will fly to the ISS aboard Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft.
Final month, Russian President Vladimir Putin fired Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin, who had gotten right into a Twitter spat with Musk within the days and weeks following the invasion of Ukraine.
“The agreement is in the interests of Russia and the United States and will promote the development of cooperation within the framework of the ISS program,” Roscosmos said in a statement to Reuters over the weekend.
The company added that it’s going to facilitate the “exploration of outer space for peaceful purposes.”
NASA and Roscosmos, the two-decade-old area station’s core companions, have hunted for years to renew routine built-in crewed flights as a part of the companies’ long-standing civil alliance, now one of many final hyperlinks of cooperation between america and Russia as tensions flare over the struggle in Ukraine.
The primary built-in flights below the brand new settlement will are available September, NASA stated, with US astronaut Frank Rubio launching to the area station from the Moscow-leased Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan alongside two cosmonauts, Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin.
The 2 companies had beforehand shared astronaut seats on the US shuttle and the Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
After the shuttle’s retirement in 2011, the US relied on Russia’s Soyuz for sending American astronauts to the area station till 2020, when SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule revived NASA’s human spaceflight functionality and commenced routine ISS flights from Florida.
Kikina, an engineer and the one girl in Russia’s lively cosmonaut corps, is about to be the primary Russian to fly SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule.
She has been coaching for the mission at NASA’s astronaut headquarters in Houston whereas the settlement was below negotiation.
The US area company has stated having a minimum of one Russian and one American aboard the area station is essential to protecting the laboratory operating.
“Flying integrated crews ensures there are appropriately trained crew members on board the station for essential maintenance and spacewalks,” NASA stated in an announcement on Friday.
Shortly earlier than the settlement was introduced, Putin changed Rogozin with Yuri Borisov, a former deputy prime minister and deputy protection minister.
