Kikina's Husband, Trainer Shared What He Will Be Doing While She Lives On ISS

Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina's husband and physical training instructor at the Cosmonaut Training Center Alexander Serdyuk shared with Sputnik what he will be doing while his wife is at the International Space Station (ISS).

TITUSVILLE (Florida) (UrduPoint news / Sputnik - 08th October, 2022) Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina's husband and physical training instructor at the Cosmonaut Training Center Alexander Serdyuk shared with Sputnik what he will be doing while his wife is at the International Space Station (ISS).

"I'll be looking forward to her return," Serdyuk said. "I have a favorite job. I will continue to engage in physical training of astronauts... Soon there will be communication with Anna through the mission control center."

Kikina, the only female cosmonaut at Roscosmos, is currently at the ISS with the Crew-5 team. The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft named Endurance. The spacecraft docked at the ISS on Thursday. Kikina is the first Russian to be launched into space from US soil in two decades.

Serdyuk, the lead trainer-teacher of the ISS-68 crew, which Kikina is part of, noted that he helped train her and also supports and will continue to support her in education and in everyday life.

Serdyuk also shared that while Kikina's parents did not come to the United States for the launch, they traveled to Moscow to watch the live broadcast.

"Anna's parents were able to fly to Moscow to see the broadcast of the launch and docking at the Museum of Cosmonautics," he noted. "Also there were friends, relatives, and work colleagues.

It's great that they were able to watch these exciting events together and support the crew of Dragon Crew-5."

Serdyuk said that at the moment there are 29 cosmonauts in the squad.

"Interest in cosmonautics is growing steadily these days. People are more and more interested in expanding the horizons of knowledge of the universe. And it's wonderful," Serdyuk said.

Serdyuk trains astronauts and space tourists.

"We are very comfortable working with our foreign colleagues," he said. "People united by one grandiose idea and able to work harmoniously and amicably always achieve their goals! I would like to thank every person who contributed to the implementation of this mission."

NASA's Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, as well as Japan's Koichi Wakata, and Russia's Kikina will stay in orbit for about six months and carry out over 200 scientific experiments.

In July, Roscosmos and NASA signed an agreement on integrated flights of cosmonauts and astronauts to the ISS. As part of the agreement, the Soyuz-2.1a rocket with a Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft was launched from Baikonur to the ISS on September 21 carrying another crew including Russian cosmonauts Sergei Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin as well as NASA astronaut Francisco Rubio.