27 Sep 2022 13:44

ISS partner countries clear Crew Dragon spaceflight carrying Russian cosmonaut Kikina - Roscosmos

MOSCOW. Sept 27 (Interfax) - A panel of representatives of the International Space Station (ISS) project has cleared members of the Crew Dragon spacecraft, including cosmonaut Anna Kikina, for a flight to the ISS, Roscosmos said on Tuesday.

"On Monday, September 26, 2022, a panel of representatives of the space agencies of the International Space Station project partner countries reviewed preparedness and cleared the flight of Crew-5 including Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina on board a Crew Dragon piloted spacecraft," it said.

Apart from Kikina, the crew also includes NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada and JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata.

A Falcon 9 launch vehicle coupled with the U.S. Crew Dragon 5 piloted spacecraft is due to lift off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida no earlier than 7:46 p.m. Moscow time on October 3, 2022.

Roscosmos and the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) signed an agreement on cross-flights of three Russian cosmonauts on board U.S. Crew Dragon piloted spacecraft and three U.S. astronauts on board Russian Soyuz MS piloted spacecraft to the ISS in 2022-2024.

The first crew lifted off to the ISS from the Baikonur Cosmodrome under the new cross-flight program on September 21. The Soyuz MS-22 crew comprised Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin and NASA astronaut Francisco Rubio.