Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina enters the International Space Station from a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule on October 6. The Associated Press
A Russian cosmonaut who took an American lift to the International Space Station arrived Thursday at his new home for a five-month stay, accompanied by a Japanese astronaut and two NASA astronauts, including the first woman Native American in space.
The SpaceX capsule arrived at the station a day after launching into orbit. The link occurred 260 miles (420 kilometers) above the Atlantic, just off the west coast of Africa.
It was the first time in 20 years that a Russian took a ride from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, the result of a new deal reached despite friction over the war in Ukraine.
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Cosmonaut Anna Kikina joins two Russians already at the orbiting outpost. He will live and work on the Russian side until March, before returning to Earth in the same SpaceX capsule.
With Kikina: Marine Col. Nicole Mann, a member of the Wailacki of California’s Round Valley Indian Tribes, Marine Capt. Josh Cassada and Japan’s Koichi Wakata, the group’s only experienced space flier with five missions.
A four-member SpaceX Crew Dragon team, including the first Native American woman sent into orbit Nicole Mann, docked safely at the International Space Station on October 6 and moved aboard to begin a mission five-month-old scientist.
Reuters
As the capsule closed, the residents of the space station promised the newcomers that their bunks were ready and the outside light was on.
“You guys are the best,” replied Mann, the pod commander.
Mann and his crew will replace three Americans and an Italian who will return to their own SpaceX capsule next week after nearly half a year up there. Until then, 11 people will share the orbiting laboratory.
NASA astronaut Frank Rubio arrived two weeks ago. It was launched on a Soyuz rocket from Kazakhstan, starting the cashless crew exchange between NASA and the Russian Space Agency. They agreed to the plan last summer to always have one American and one Russian on the station.
Until Elon Musk’s SpaceX began launching astronauts two years ago, NASA was forced to spend tens of millions of dollars each time an astronaut flew on a Soyuz.