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Cosmonaut Kikina to travel to orbital outpost aboard Crew Dragon spacecraft on October 3

NASA astronauts Nicole Mann, Josh Cassada and JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata will travel together with Kikina aboard the Crew Dragon spaceship to the orbital outpost

Anna Kikina Gavriil Grigorov/TASS

Anna Kikina

© Gavriil Grigorov/TASS

MOSCOW, August 25. /TASS/. Anna Kikina, the sole woman in the Russian cosmonaut team, is set to embark on her flight aboard a US Crew Dragon spaceship under the seat swap program on October 3, Russia’s space agency Roscosmos announced on Thursday.

"NASA and SpaceX have determined the date for the launch of Crew-5 mission. The launch is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. Moscow time on October 3 but may be postponed to a later date," Roscosmos said in a statement.

NASA astronauts Nicole Mann, Josh Cassada and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Koichi Wakata will travel together with Kikina aboard the Crew Dragon spaceship to the orbital outpost, the statement says.

On July 15, Roscosmos announced that it had signed a deal on seat swap flights by Russian cosmonauts and American astronauts to the International Space Station. Head of the Roscosmos Cosmonaut Team Oleg Kononenko said at the time that the agreement under the seat swap program envisaged three flights by Russian cosmonauts aboard Crew Dragon spaceships.

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