Cosmonaut Borisov cleared to fly to ISS on Crew Dragon spaceship - training center

MOSCOW. Feb 15 (Interfax) - A medical commission has cleared Russian cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov, a backup for cosmonaut Andrei Fedyayev who will fly to the International Space Station (ISS) on the U.S. Crew Dragon spaceship on February 26, the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center said.

"The commission has analyzed the state of health and vitals of cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov. At the end of the meeting, he was cleared for the space flight by health parameters," the Center's press service said on Wednesday.

Borisov is cosmonaut Fedyayev's backup under the cross-flight agreement, the press service said.

The other Crew Dragon 6 members include NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg and UAE astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi.

The SpaceX Crew Dragon 6 with Fedyayev onboard will be launched to the ISS by a Falcon 9 rocket from Area 39A of the Kennedy Space Center on February 26. The expedition will last for six months.

Two ISS missions are underway consistent with the agreement. Russia's Soyuz MS-22 operated by Russian cosmonauts Sergei Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin and NASA astronaut Francisco Rubio headed to the station in September 2022. The United States' Crew Dragon 5 with Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina onboard took off in October.