Anna Yuryevna Kikina (russian: Анна Юрьевна Кикина, born 27 August 1984 in

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk (, also ; rus, Новосиби́рск, p=nəvəsʲɪˈbʲirsk, a=ru-Новосибирск.ogg) is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Census, ...

) is a Russian engineer and cosmonaut, selected in 2012. She is the only woman cosmonaut currently in active service at

Roscosmos The State Space Corporation "Roscosmos" (russian: Государственная корпорация по космической деятельности «Роскосмос»), commonly known simply as Roscosmos (russian: Роскосмос) ...

. In June 2020, fellow cosmonaut

Oleg Kononenko Oleg Dmitriyevich Kononenko (russian: Олег Дмитриевич Кононенко; ; born 21 June 1964 in Turkmenistan) is a Russian cosmonaut from the Turkmen SSR. He has flown to the International Space Station four times, as a flight eng ...

said that Kikina was expected to fly on a fall 2022 mission to the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest Modular design, modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos ( ...

(ISS) and perform a spacewalk during the mission. In September 2021,

RIA Novosti RIA Novosti (russian: РИА Новости), sometimes referred to as RIAN () or RIA (russian: РИА, label=none) is a Russian state-owned domestic news agency. On 9 December 2013 by a decree of Vladimir Putin it was liquidated and its asset ...

reported that Kikina had been assigned to the

Soyuz MS-22 Soyuz MS-22 is a Russian Soyuz spaceflight to the International Space Station with a crew of three launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome on 21 September 2022. The launch was previously planned for 13 September 2022, but in the provisional flight ma ...

mission, set to launch on 21 September 2022, for a 188-day mission. In December 2021, Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin announced she would fly on an "American commercial spacecraft" in September 2022, while a NASA astronaut would take her seat on Soyuz making her the first Russian cosmonaut to fly a Crew Dragon and the first Roscosmos cosmonaut to fly aboard a U.S. spacecraft since 2002. In October 2022, the commercial flight launched as the SpaceX Crew-5 Crew Dragon.

Education

Kikina graduated with honors from the Novosibirsk State Academy of Water Transportation Engineering. She also earned her degree in economics and management.

Personal life

Kikina was born in

. She worked as a tour guide in

Altai Altai or Altay may refer to: Places *Altai Mountains, in Central and East Asia, a region shared by China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Russia In China * Altay Prefecture (阿勒泰地区), Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China * Altay City (阿� ...

Region, as well as a swimming and paratrooper instructor. She also worked as Radio Host for Radio Siberia. In spring 2021, toy manufacturer

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...

released a Barbie astronaut doll in Kikina’s image. Kikina is married to Alexander Serdyuk, a physical training instructor at the Cosmonaut Training Center.

References

1984 births Living people Russian cosmonauts Women astronauts People from Novosibirsk Siberian State University of Water Transport alumni 21st-century Russian women {{astronaut-stub