The shuttle lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. One of the seven crew members to the International Space Station was a Russian.
As a result of warming relations between Russia and the US, cosmonauts flew on the space shuttle for nearly a decade. The exchange program would have continued even after tragedy struck on the next mission. All seven astronauts on the space shuttle Columbia were killed when it reentered the atmosphere.
The Russians wouldn't fly on the space shuttle after the disaster. The minimum number of missions needed to complete the International Space Station was the focus of NASA. Russia's Soyuz vehicle would be NASA's only ride to space after the shuttle retired.
NASA will be able to launch its own astronauts into space in 2020 after completing the development of the Crew Dragon vehicle. After a successful demonstration flight in May 2020 with two astronauts on board, Crew Dragon safely launched six more times.
Crew Dragon carried astronauts into space for the fifth time. Nicole Mann made her first flight into space on this Crew-5 flight.
Anna Kikina made her debut flight into space as a Dragon rider. Since 1963, only six Russian or Soviet female cosmonauts have flown into space. It is the first time in two decades that a Russian has launched into space from the US.
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Crew-5 is rounded out by two NASA astronauts and a Japanese one. This is Wakata's fifth spaceflight and he is one of the rookies.
Relations between NASA and Russia are stabilizing. After Russia invaded Ukraine in February, there were many difficult moments in this relationship. The leader of the Russian space agency made threats about pulling Russia out of the space station and openly supported the war.
The leader of the agency was replaced in July by a former deputy prime minister. The new leader of the Russian space agency has been more level-headed than his predecessor and has indicated a willingness to continue to work with NASA. The preference of NASA is for the station to be operated by the US and Russia.
On Wednesday is the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. While the United States and Russia are locked in a serious conflict on Earth, cooperation in space is still possible.
During a post-flight news conference, Sergei Krikalev, the chief of human spaceflight for Roscosmos, said that. Krikalev was the first Russian to fly on the space shuttle.
He said that the United States and Russia have cooperated in space for more than four decades. He wanted to make sure that the two countries continued their cooperation as long as possible.
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