Roscosmos: NASA astronaut Rubio may fly to Soyuz MS in September 2022
Francisco Rubio may become the only American astronaut who will be delivered to the International Space Station (ISS) by the Russian Soyuz MS spacecraft in 2022. The name of the NASA astronaut was called "Roscosmos".
The state corporation's message emphasizes that this is possible if the state corporation and the American space Agency sign an agreement on cross-flights to the ISS, according to which Russian Anna Kikina will become a crew member of the Crew Dragon spacecraft (USCV-5 mission), and Rubio will join the Soyuz MS-22 crew.
Roscosmos recalls that the launch of the USCV-5 is scheduled for August, and the launch of the Soyuz MS-22 is scheduled for September. If the agreement on cross-flights is not signed, Kikina will go into space on Soyuz MS-22.
The State Corporation notes that in 2022, "for the first time in the history of the ISS project, the Soyuz crew will include three Russian professional cosmonauts - Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev and Sergei Korsakov. The Russians are to fly to the ISS in March on the Soyuz MS-21 spacecraft.
In December 2021, TASS with reference to the head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, it was reported that Anna Kikina could be the first of the Russian cosmonauts to fly on the Crew Dragon ship. According to the head of the state corporation, this could happen as early as 2022. The head of Roscosmos stressed that the relevant decision has already been made.