MOSCOW: Russia’s only active female cosmonaut Anna Kikina on Thursday described a “wonderful” atmosphere during her mission to the International Space Station where she travelled aboard a SpaceX spaceship.

The orbital station is one of the few remaining areas of cooperation between Moscow and Washington amid a breakdown of ties since Moscow sent troops to Ukraine.

Kikina is only the fifth professional woman cosmonaut from Russia or the Soviet Union to fly to space and the first Russian to fly with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

“I liked the flight very much... everything was comfortable,” the 38-year-old engineer told an online news conference. Kikina returned to Earth on March 12 after five months aboard the ISS with fellow crew members Japan’s Koichi Wakata and Nasa astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada. Speaking of her interaction with colleagues on the ISS, she said she “didn’t experience any difficulties.

“Support for each other was felt all the time, there was a good sense of humour both aboard the station and on the spaceship,” Kikina added.

“The atmosphere was wonderful.” After returning to Earth, Kikina spent the first stage of her rehabilitation at a Nasa centre in Houston and will continue her recovery in Star City outside Moscow.

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2023