Cosmonaut Anna Kikina Shares First Impressions After Arriving at ISS

Lead

Anna Kikina, a Roscosmos cosmonaut and TASS's special correspondent on the International Space Station (ISS), has spoken about her first hours aboard the station, describing them as a period of intense physical adaptation to weightlessness paired with high emotions. Kikina arrived at the ISS on July 14 as part of the station's 75th long-duration expedition and has now shared her initial impressions of the work and atmosphere on the station, as reported by TASS.

Coverage Comparison

The two TASS reports present complementary views of Kikina's arrival and role. One report focuses on her personal experience, quoting her directly about the physical challenges and emotional highs of her first hours in space. The other emphasizes the ceremonial handover of the TASS special correspondent post from Sergey Kud-Sverchkov to Kikina, who becomes the first female to hold the position. Both reports confirm the same core facts about the mission, the crew, and the expected duration, though they lead with different angles: one with her personal impressions, the other with the formal transition of the bureau chief role.

Key Claims

The reports state that the Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle lifted off from the Baikonur spaceport on July 14, carrying the primary crew of the ISS's 75th long-duration expedition. The crew consists of Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov, who serves as mission commander, and Anna Kikina, along with NASA astronaut Anil Menon. The mission is expected to last 261 days.

Kikina described her first moments on the station: "The first hours at the station are hard for everyone who arrives here, experiencing and feeling the effects of the absence of gravity with their whole body. This is a period of acute adaptation of the body to weightlessness. At the same time, emotions are on the high - I'm back in space, everything is so familiar, not a forgotten feeling of floating! Kind crewmates on the ISS are near me, smiles, support, the first joint work! I am full of strength, energy, and inspiration to do my space work!"

Kikina took over as TASS special correspondent from Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, who handed over the post on July 16. "I have handed over the post of a TASS special correspondent to Anna. So, news will now be reported by her! I am adamant that things should go as planned and the next news will be about arrangements and the return of our crew home," Kud-Sverchkov said. Kikina added, "I take over from Sergey Kud-Sverchkov as [TASS] bureau chief on board the International Space Station. The ISS-74 crew gives the floor to the ISS-75 crew."

According to the reports, Kikina is the first female TASS special correspondent on the ISS. The role was established after TASS and Russia's state-run space corporation signed a memorandum on cooperation in 2021 to open the news agency's bureau aboard the station. Previous TASS special correspondents include Alexander Misurkin, Oleg Artemyev, Dmitry Petelin, Oleg Kononenko, Ivan Vagner, and Alexey Zubritsky, before Kud-Sverchkov took over.