Russian astronauts go into space on American rockets ... for the first time in 20 years

The SpaceX manned capsule carrying Russian astronauts is launched towards the space station

Implementation of the space agreement program despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine

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Russian astronaut Anna Kikina aboard the US SpaceX spacecraft

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(Los Angeles = Yonhap News) Correspondent Yoon-seop Jeong = A Russian astronaut headed into space on the 5th (local time) aboard a rocket launched from American soil.

Elon Musk’s space exploration company SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon capsule aboard Russian astronaut Anna Kikina from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the same day.

It is the first time Russian astronauts have boarded a US spacecraft in 20 years since NASA’s Space Shuttle program in 2002.

A Russian astronaut made an unusual flight aboard an American spaceship despite heightened tensions between the United States and Russia due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Kikina’s boarding on the SpaceX spacecraft complies with the spacecraft seat exchange agreement signed by NASA and the Russian Federation Space Agency (Roscosmos) in July.

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**Rocket launch scene from SpaceX’s “Crew-5” mission**

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The two countries signed the first agreement to send their astronauts to the ISS using each other’s spacecraft to secure alternative transportation in the event of an ISS emergency.

This agreement has a symbolic meaning that the two countries have not completely lost the cordon of space cooperation even in the war in Ukraine.

Earlier last month, US astronaut Frank Rubio went to the ISS in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan under the agreement.

This time, Russian astronaut Kikina boarded the SpaceX manned capsule along with three astronauts from NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

The launch of SpaceX this time was carried out in accordance with the “Crew-5” mission, which transports astronauts to the ISS.

The astronauts arrive at the ISS after a 29-hour flight, stay in space for 150 days and perform various scientific missions.

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