Anna Kikina: 1st Russian to Ride Dragon Capsule on SpaceX Crew-5 Mission

During a prelaunch briefing for the forthcoming Dragon cargo resupply mission CRS-24, NASA’s International Space Station (ISS) program manager Joel Montalbano informed reporters that the intention was to launch a cosmonaut on the SpaceX Crew-5 mission, which would send in the fall of 2022.

The aim is to send a cosmonaut on the Crew-5 mission next autumn, followed by a NASA astronaut on an upcoming Soyuz flight, Montalbano explained. At the moment, the agency is completing such plans through government agreements.

SpaceX is expected to launch a cosmonaut into space in 2022, despite poor ties after Russia’s orbital anti-satellite missile test.

Nasa and Roscosmos, Russia’s space agency, are negotiating a deal to send the first Russian astronaut to the International Space Station on the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.

The intention, according to Joel Montalbano, program manager for the Space Station, was to deploy a cosmonaut on the SpaceX Crew-5 mission, which would launch in the fall of 2022. As the Dragon cargo resupply mission CRS-24 to the flying outpost was about to begin, Montalbano spoke to reporters.

Read: NASA will cover SpaceX Crew-3 briefings, activities, and broadcasts

Anna Kikina, a Russian cosmonaut, will launch with SpaceX

According to the Russian space agency’s head, Anna Kikina, Roscosmos’ sole female cosmonaut, may be a plausible candidate for such a journey.

She has already begun preparing for the mission at SpaceX facilities, according to authorities. She’ll be joining astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada on the Crew-5 mission.

Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada were originally allocated to Boeing’s first crewed flight but have now been transferred to SpaceX, where they will work with Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata.

According to rumors, Roscosmos will grant an American astronaut a place on the Soyuz spacecraft in return for Kikina’s seat.

It’s worth noting that before SpaceX established crew launching and landing capabilities, the US relied on Russia to carry its astronauts to the Space Station when the Shuttle mission was grounded in the early part of the past decade.

While ties between the United States and Russia are strained on the ground, they had remained cooperative in space until November, when US officials accused Russia of jeopardizing the International Space Station.

The anti-satellite missile test created a debris field in low-Earth orbit, which they said would pose a long-term threat to space activities.

Also read: How SpaceX 42000 satellites will terraform the Earth?

Bringing the SpaceX Crew-5 mission to a close

Kikina will work with NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada if she joins Crew-5, who was transferred from Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft to Crew Dragon in October.

The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) named Dr. Koichi Wakata as the third member of the Crew-5 team a few days after NASA’s announcement.

This will be my sixth space voyage, following three Space Shuttle missions in 1996, 2000, and 2009, as well as a Russian Soyuz mission in 2013.

In a statement, Wakata noted, This will be my first voyage onboard a commercial Space Vehicle. I am aware of significant advancements in the space industry, as well as vigorous private-sector activity in low-Earth orbit.

Date of the crew-5 launch by SpaceX

SpaceX Crew-5 will be the company’s eighth overall crewed orbital flight and the fifth NASA Launch Services launch of a Crew Dragon spacecraft. In September 2022, the mission is scheduled to launch.

Four crew members will be sent to the International Space Station on the Crew-5 mission (ISS). Two NASA astronauts, one JAXA astronaut, and one Russian cosmonaut have been assigned to the mission as of December 2021.

The crew of a Boeing plane has been moved to a SpaceX mission

Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, both NASA astronauts, will lead SpaceX Crew-5 as the spacecraft commander and pilot, respectively. The relocated astronauts were scheduled to fly Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on its first two crew missions, but due to delays, they will instead travel with SpaceX.

Cassada was the pilot for the Boeing-1, while Mann was the mission expert for Boeing’s Crewed Flight Test (the first operational mission.

Crew-5 is scheduled to launch in the fall of 2022, and it will be Mann and Cassada’s maiden spaceflight. Both astronauts are members of Astronaut Group 21, which was formed in 2013 and announced in 2013. They’re the last two people in the group who haven’t flown in space yet.

A Russian cosmonaut may join the crew

Steve Stich, the Commercial Crew Program manager, just returned from Moscow where he was assisting Roscosmos in preparing to fly a cosmonaut on SpaceX’s Crew-5 mission. Russia hasn’t said anything yet, but NASA is aiming for next fall.

NASA and Roscosmos had an agreement during the Space Shuttle era to transfer seats on Russian Soyuz and American Shuttle missions. NASA has been acquiring seats from Russia to maintain its human presence in space since the Space Shuttle was retired in 2011. NASA plans to revisit the arrangement now that SpaceX has successfully launched its Dragon spacecraft.

Technical issues continue to stymie the Starliner’s launch schedule

Due to the relocation of the Boeing Starliner’s crew, the new spacecraft is projected to face additional delays. Stich revealed to the media that Starliner’s Orbital Flight Test-2 mission will be postponed until early 2022.

This provides Boeing and NASA more time to understand out what caused the stuck valves that forced the attempt to be canceled a few months ago.

NASA has not lost faith in the Boeing crew, according to Stich. While the corporation appears to have fallen on hard times in recent years, they are still one of NASA’s oldest collaborators, dating back to the agency’s inception.

Bottom line: Anna Kikina might join NASA researchers Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, who were initially allocated to Boeing’s first manned flight, on the Crew-5 mission. Mann and Cassada have been transferred to SpaceX, where they’ll be joined by Japanese scientist Koichi Wakata to form a four-person crew.


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