Moscow. December 17th. INTERFAX - Roscosmos and NASA have not yet approved Anna Kikina's candidacy as the first representative of Russia to the crew of the Crew Dragon spacecraft, Sergey Krikalev, executive director of the state Corporation for Manned Programs, told Interfax.
"There is no Kikina in the agreement, no one. There is a conversation that we are doing so that there is one of our representatives, one of them on each ship," Krikalev said.
On December 8, the head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, reported that Kikina, the only woman in the Roscosmos cosmonaut squad, could become the first Russian cosmonaut to fly to the ISS on the American Crew Dragon ship as part of cross-flights.
On December 3, Deputy head of the State Corporation for International Cooperation Sergey Saveliev told Interfax that the heads of Roscosmos and NASA will discuss the resumption of cross-flights and further cooperation on the ISS at a personal meeting in Russia. According to him, the visit of the head of NASA Bill Nelson to Moscow is expected in the first half of 2022.
On November 24, Nelson announced that the fate of the agreements between NASA and Roscosmos on cross-flights to the ISS and the extension of the use of the ISS will be decided following a meeting in Moscow with the head of the Russian state corporation. Nelson noted that the test of anti-satellite weapons conducted by the Russian military on November 15 will not affect the cooperation of NASA and Roscosmos on the ISS.
On November 17, Krikalev told Interfax that the state corporation and NASA had reached an agreement in principle on the resumption of "cross-over" flights, the text of the agreement is being coordinated in the government of the Russian Federation.
"There is a fundamental agreement. There are not even so much technical as documentary problems. Since this is a barter scheme, coordination is underway at the government level: documents are being prepared, words are being clarified, a normal working process is underway," Krikalev said.
On November 17, the head of the Cosmonaut Training Center, Maxim Kharlamov, told Interfax that the CPC had selected four candidates to prepare for flights on the American Crew Dragon ship. According to him, the candidates should be submitted to the state Commission for approval in the near future.
On October 6, the head of NASA's ISS program, Joel Montalbano, announced that the United States was preparing an agreement with Roscosmos on "cross-over" flights, the Russian cosmonaut, according to him, could fly on an American ship in the fall of 2022.
On October 29, the head of NASA's manned program, Kathy Luders, said that Roscosmos and NASA are considering the possibility of joint training for future "cross" flights to the ISS.
In April, Krikalev told Interfax that the state corporation was in favor of resuming "cross" flights to the ISS on Russian and American ships.
The Roscosmos annual report for 2020 reported on the preparation of a draft agreement with NASA on "cross-over" flights.
