Cosmonaut Kikina to return to Russia 10 days after rehabilitation in U.S.

MOSCOW. March 13 (Interfax) - Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina will have over a week of rehabilitation in Houston, the United States, upon her return from the International Space Station (ISS) before flying to Russia, Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov said.

"Anna will spend the first seven to ten days of her rehabilitation in a health center in Houston, where she will be monitored by a crew doctor and a fitness coach, before everyone goes home," Borisov said on Telegram.

The U.S. Crew Dragon spaceship with Kikina onboard splashed down in Florida on March 12, and the four crewmembers were retrieved from it.

Kikina is the first Russian cosmonaut to travel to the ISS by the SpaceX Crew Dragon under a cross-flight agreement between NASA and Roscosmos.

Russia and the United States broadened the cross-flight agreement on March 1 with an additional flight of a Russian cosmonaut onboard the Crew Dragon. Under the agreement, Konstantin Borisov will travel to the ISS with the Crew-7 mission in the second half of 2023.

In July 2022, Roscosmos and NASA signed an agreement on the cross-flights of three Russian cosmonauts onboard U.S. Crew Dragon spaceships and three U.S. astronauts onboard Russian Soyuz-MS spaceships within the ISS program's framework in 2022-2024.

Roscosmos Executive Director for Manned Space Programs Sergei Krikalev told Interfax that the cross-flight agreement might be extended.