Russia’s only female cosmonaut set for flight to International Space Station
Have you heard of the Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova? She was the first and youngest woman ever to have flown to space, that too on a solo mission. The mission, known as Vostok 6, was launched on 16th June, 1963. Since then, many women have set foot in space including our very own Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams.
According to latest media reports, the only active female cosmonaut from Russia named Anna Kikina is ready to fly to the International Space Station (ISS) on 3rd October. Here’s everything you need to know on this exciting space news.
Onboard Crew Dragon
Despite the rising tensions between Russia and USA over the former’s military intervention in Ukraine, Russia’s only active woman cosmonaut Anna Kikina is all set for a flight to the International Space Station aboard Space X’s Crew Dragon spacecraft. This upcoming flight will also make Kikina the first Russian ever to travel on a Space X developed spacecraft as part of a cross-flights deal between USA’s space agency NASA and its Russian counterpart Roscosmos. Interestingly, Kikina will be accompanied by Japan’s Koichi Wakata and USA’s Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada.
Who is Anna Kikina?
From the little that’s known so far, Anna Kikina is a 37-year-old engineer who is all set to become the fifth professional female cosmonaut from Russia to fly to the ISS. Hailing from Novosibirsk, Russia, Kikina has a graduate honours degree in water transportation engineering from Novosibirsk State Academy. She became a test cosmonaut for Roscosmos in 2012 and has been directly involved at the agency ever since.
Kikina is all set to leave for the USA on 8th September for her final training session, pre-flight activities and procedures. Interestingly, Kikina is keen to carry her hand-made toy of a young boy with orange hair named Gorodovichok on her upcoming mission as a souvenir from her hometown.
The other Russian female astronauts who had set foot on space so far are: Elena Serova, who spent 167 days on the ISS from September 2014 to March 2015. There was also Svetlana Savitskaya, the second woman in space and the first woman to perform a spacewalk in July 1984. Later, Russia had also successfully sent an actress named Yulia Peresild to space for shooting scenes for a movie for 12 days.