For the first time in 20 years, a Russian cosmonaut has departed from the United States, launching to the International Space Station alongside NASA and Japanese astronauts despite tensions over the war in Ukraine.
Their SpaceX flight was delayed by Hurricane Ian, which devastated the state last week.
“Hopefully with this launch we’ll light up the skies of Florida a little bit for everyone,” said Koichi Wakata of the Japan Space Agency, who is on his fifth spaceflight.
We are on our way to space!#Crew5 removed from @NASAKennedy at noon ET (1600 UTC) and heading towards the @Space station for six months of scientific discovery. pic.twitter.com/p2AvbIzo9V
—NASA (@NASA) October 5, 2022
Three newcomers to space join him for a five-month mission: Marine Col Nicole Mann, the first Native American woman to go into orbit; Captain Josh Cassada; and Russia’s only female cosmonaut, Anna Kikina.
They are due to arrive at the space station Thursday, 29 hours after leaving NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, and will not return to Earth until March. They replace an American-Italian crew who arrived in April.
Ms Kikina is the Russian Space Agency’s exchange for Nasa’s Frank Rubio, who launched to the space station two weeks ago from Kazakhstan aboard a Soyuz rocket. He flew with two cosmonauts.
The space agencies agreed over the summer to swap seats on their flights to ensure a continued US and Russian presence aboard the 260-mile-tall outpost. The barter was allowed even as global hostilities escalated following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February. The next crew swap will take place in the spring.
Shortly before liftoff, Nasa Administrator Bill Nelson said the main reason for swapping seats was safety – in case an emergency forces a capsule’s crew to return home. , there would always be an American and a Russian on board.
In the meantime, Russia remains attached to the space station until at least 2024, Russian space official Sergei Krikalev told reporters this week.
Russia wants to build its own station in orbit later this decade, “but we know that won’t happen very soon and so we will probably continue to fly” with NASA until then, he said.
Beginning with Mr. Krikalev in 1994, Nasa began flying cosmonauts on its space shuttles, first to Russia’s Mir space station and then to the fledgling space station.
The Columbia re-entry disaster of 2003 put an end to it. But American astronauts continued to hitchhike on Russian rockets for tens of millions of dollars per seat.
Mrs. Kikina is only the fifth Russian woman to take off from the planet. She said she was surprised to be selected for the seat swap after encountering “many tests and obstacles” during her decade of training. “But I did. Maybe I’m lucky. I am strong,” she said.
Colonel Mann is a member of the Wailacki of the Round Valley Indian tribes in California and picks up his mother’s dreamcatcher, a small traditional webbed hoop believed to provide protection.
Retired NASA astronaut John Herrington of the Chickasaw Nation became the first Native American in space in 2002.
“I take great pride in representing Native Americans and my heritage,” Colonel Mann said before the flight, adding that all of his crew members have a unique experience.
“It’s important to celebrate our diversity and realize how important it is to collaborate and come together, the incredible accomplishments we can have.”
Regarding the war in Ukraine, Colonel Mann said all four put aside politics and personal beliefs, “and it’s really cool to see how the common mission of the space station unites us instantly” .
Capt Cassada added, “We have the opportunity to be an example to society on how to work together, live together and explore together.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has now launched eight crews since 2020: six for NASA and two private groups. Boeing, NASA’s other contracted taxi service, plans to make its first astronaut flight early next year after delays in resolving software and other issues during flights. ‘test.
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