Anna Yuryevna Kikina (Russian: Анна Юрьевна Кикина; born 27 August 1984) is a Russian engineer and cosmonaut, selected in 2012.[1] She is the only female cosmonaut currently in active service at Roscosmos.[2] In June 2020, fellow cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko said that Kikina was expected to fly on a fall 2022 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) and perform a spacewalk during the mission.[3] In September 2021, RIA Novosti reported that Kikina had been assigned to the Soyuz MS-22 mission, set to launch on 21 September 2022, for a 188-day mission.[4]
SpaceX Crew-5
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.[5] In October 2022, the commercial flight launched as the SpaceX Crew-5 Crew Dragon.[6]
On 11 March 2023, the SpaceX Crew-5 returned to earth after 157 days.[7] The flight lasted about 19 hours, and their capsule landed in the Gulf of Mexico.[8]
Kikina was born in Novosibirsk. She worked as a tour guide in Altai region, as well as a swimming and paratrooper instructor.[10] She also worked as radio host for Radio Siberia.[11]
In spring 2021, toy manufacturer Mattel released a Barbie astronaut doll in Kikina’s image.[10]
Kikina is married to Alexander Serdyuk, a physical training instructor at the Cosmonaut Training Center.
