As the Russian space agency Roscosmos competed the successful arrival of two space tourists to the International Space Station on Wednesday, it announced more news of an upcoming mission.

What You Need To Know

  •  NASA and SpaceX are preparing for the Crew-5 mission to launch in fall 2022

  • Anna Kikina’s flight would be the first for a Russian cosmonaut aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft

  • NASA has not commented publicly on the announcement by Dmitry Rogozin

Taking to Twitter, Dr. Dmitry Rogozin, the Director General of Roscosmos, announced that Anna Kikina, the only active female cosmonaut in Russia’s space program, may be flying aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon in fall 2022.

"Our cosmonaut Anna Kikina will presumably go on a space mission in 2022. We believe that she may take a seat aboard the US spacecraft, while we in turn will put a US astronaut in space by our Soyuz under an exchange program," Rogozin said in a statement.

This mission would mark the first time a Russian cosmonaut would fly aboard a U.S. spacecraft in the commercial crew era of NASA. Back in October, Rogozin said that SpaceX had “gained sufficient experience for representatives of our crews to make flights aboard its spacecraft.” 

"Our charming space lady will have the honor to inaugurate our space exchange flights program," he said.

The Crew-5 mission would also be the first spaceflight for Kikina. Back in March, Roscosmos announced a partnership with Mattel to create a Barbie doll version of the cosmonaut as part of the Dream Gap Project.

“As a child, I had no dream of becoming an astronaut. But if I had a Barbie astronaut doll, then the idea of ​​becoming an astronaut would probably have arisen in my head even then,” Kikina told the agency.

As space historian Robert Pearlman noted for his site Collect Space, the first Barbie doll to don an space suit, the 1965 “Barbie Miss Astronaut,” was modeled after cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman to fly to space.

Samantha Cristoforetti, an ESA astronaut who will fly as part of the Crew-4 mission on April 15, 2022, is also part of the of the Dream Gap Project.

Rounding out the SpaceX Crew-5 mission

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

A few days after that update from NASA, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced that Dr. Koichi Wakata would be the third member of the Crew-5 team.

“It will be my fifth flight to space, following three U.S. Space Shuttle fights in 1996, 2000, and 2009, and a Russian Soyuz flight in 2013. This coming flight is going to be my first flight onboard a commercial Space Vehicle,” Wakata said in a statement. “I recognize remarkable developments in the space field and acknowledge dynamic activities by the private sector on the Low Earth Orbit.”

 

 

In response to request for comment from Spectrum News 13, a NASA spokesperson gave the following statement:

“NASA and Roscosmos are finalizing the details to an agreement where we would routinely fly astronauts and cosmonauts to the International Space Station on each other’s spacecraft. In parallel, we will be conducting the necessary training for integrated crew operations. We look forward to continued international cooperation aboard the Space Station.”