The only female cosmonaut of Russia, Anna Kikina, will fly on the American Crew Dragon ship in 2022. This was announced on December 8 by Dmitry Rogozin, CEO of the Roscosmos State Corporation.
"We assume that our cosmonaut Kikina will make her first flight in 2022, and we think that she will make it on the Crew Dragon ship," he said at a press conference after the Soyuz MS-20 spacecraft docked with the ISS.
Rogozin added that the relevant decision has already been made. In turn, an American astronaut will fly on the Russian ship.
Anna Kikina is the only woman among the 29 cosmonauts in the Roscosmos detachment.
On September 26, it was reported that Kikina could set a record for staying in space in 2023 among Russian cosmonauts.
So far, the national women's record for staying in space belongs to Elena Kondakova: she made two flights on the Mir orbital station with a total duration of 178 days. The world record belongs to American Peggy Whitson, who spent three expeditions on the ISS, or 666 days.
