Russia’s sole active female cosmonaut, Anna Kikina, is due to travel to the International Space Station in September on a Soyuz rocket, the national space agency said Thursday, IgbereTV reports.
Kikina, a 37-year-old engineer, will be only the fifth professional woman cosmonaut from Russia or the Soviet Union to fly to space.
Last year, the Russian space agency Roscosmos said “our beauty” Kikina would fly aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon as part of a cross-flights deal between Roscosmos and NASA.
On Thursday, Roscosmos said that if the two countries finalise the deal, Kikina will fly to space with the Americans in August, while NASA’s Francisco Rubio will travel on a Soyuz.
But if the deal does not work out, she will travel to the ISS on a Soyuz rocket in September.
The last Russian woman to fly to space was Elena Serova, who spent 167 days aboard the ISS from September, 2014 to March, 2015
