MOSCOW, April 3 Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina said in an interview that she does not yet set herself the goal of breaking the record and becoming the first Russian woman to fly into orbit three times.
“As such, I don’t have a goal to become the first among Russians, to break a record. It is important for me to continue my activities as an astronaut, to fulfill my professional duties and do it with pleasure. What results I can achieve, let’s see, life will show, as long as I intend continue their work,» Kikina said.
Anna Kikina, the only woman in the Russian cosmonaut corps, made her first flight to the International Space Station from October 5, 2022 to March 12, 2023. She was the first of the Russians to arrive and returned from the station on the American ship Crew Dragon.
In the history of Russia and the USSR, six women have been in space, including Kikina. The first woman in the world to fly into space was Valentina Tereshkova, a Soviet pilot-cosmonaut. Her first and only flight took place on June 16, 1963. The second was the USSR pilot-cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya. She made two space flights to the Salyut-7 station in 1982 and 1984. During this flight, she became the first woman to perform a spacewalk.
Elena Kondakova became the first female cosmonaut in the history of modern Russia. She made two space flights and became the first woman to fly on two different types of spacecraft — the Russian Soyuz (October 3, 1994 — March 22, 1995) and the American shuttle (May 15-24, 1997). The first Russian woman to work on the International Space Station was Elena Serova. Her flight lasted from September 26, 2014 to March 12, 2015. Also in 2021, the Russian actress Yulia Peresild visited the ISS. There she took part in the filming of the feature film «The Challenge», spending 12 days in orbit.
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