What is known about cosmonaut Anna Kikina: family, daily routine, hobbies

Anna Kikina is the only representative of the weaker sex in the detachment of Russian cosmonauts. It was with her departure that the cross-flight program between Roscosmos and NASA began. She is also our first cosmonaut to fly to the ISS on a private American ship.

We will focus on the main points and starting points of Anna’s biography, because there really is something to tell about her.

Dream of helping people

Anna Kikina, a test cosmonaut of the Yu. A. Gagarin Scientific Research Institute of TsPK, was born on August 27, 1984 in the city of Novosibirsk. Since childhood, she dreamed of becoming a veterinarian or general practitioner. According to her personal confession, she was not interested in space at that time. As a result, the girl decided to connect her life with the help of people, and her parents supported her in this matter.

As a schoolgirl, Kikina constantly participated in city sports competitions, went hiking, played in the school team, and met with rescue teams. Teachers spoke of her as a creative person and predicted her career as a professional athlete.

After school, Anna entered the Novosibirsk State Academy of Water Transport. She received a diploma in the specialty “Protection in emergency situations.” At the same time, the girl graduated from the courses of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and had a lifeguard certificate in her hands. Later, Anna received another higher education, now in the field of economics.

Through the thorns to the stars

In 2012, for the first time in Russia, a competition was organized for the cosmonaut corps, and Kikina used this opportunity to completely change her fate. The girl ended up on the list of candidates for space flight (only 8 out of 240 questionnaires were selected), having passed dozens of tests and commissions. So she got the job of her dreams – she became a test astronaut. Anna began to prepare for space flight, although at first she was skeptical about her abilities in this area.

Interestingly, before working at Roscosmos, Kikina worked at one of the radio stations in the Altai Republic. It was there that she learned about the competition. The decision to test themselves for strength turned out to be spontaneous, for a long time the parents did not know anything about the change in their daughter’s career.

The training of cosmonauts in Russia takes 8-10 years, and not only physical and psychological data play an important role, but also knowledge of the technologies for conducting scientific experiments in extreme conditions for the human body. Kikina’s first serious training took place in 2013 – Anna practiced landing in the forest at low temperatures.

In November 2017, she participated in a project simulating a flight to the moon called SIRIUS. As the first flight engineer, Anna tested a new spacesuit using virtual reality technology, controlled the lunar rover and docked the spacecraft. The results of the tests were considered successful, and her prospects for being in orbit increased significantly.

At the end of 2021, the head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, announced that Kikina would fly from Earth into orbit aboard an American spacecraft. At the same time, the state corporation did not hide that it was considering the option of appointing a woman as a goodwill ambassador in order to normalize relations between the two countries. The necessary documents were sent to the United States, and Anna prepared for a trip to California. However, in May 2022, Russia announced its desire to terminate all contracts with American partners, citing political differences.

Family and hobbies

Anna Kikina is married to Alexander Serdyuk, who is a trainer at the Russian Cosmonaut Training Center. A woman follows the daily routine very strictly and adheres to certain requirements that the profession imposes on her. However, such a busy work schedule, according to the couple, does not affect their personal life in any way. Spouses are accustomed to constant business trips and calmly endure long separations. There are no children in the family.

Anna loves extreme sports, loves rafting and polyathlon. Passing training at Roskosmos, Kikina annually makes parachute jumps, their number has already exceeded a hundred. In addition, she skis, back in 2011 she became the second on the Ski Track of Russia. Another hobby is swimming, because it helps to keep the body in good shape.

Flight is normal

In 2021, Kikina became the prototype for an exclusive Barbie doll that was not released to the general public. The set of this doll includes two forms of clothing: a space suit and training overalls. In an interview, Anna expressed the opinion that such a doll “can motivate a child to achieve goals.”

In June 2022, a message unexpectedly appeared on the Roskosmos page on the social network about Anna’s upcoming trip to the United States to train the spacesuit and study the systems of American ships. In September, she left Russia for the United States.

Kikina was satisfied with the stage of preparation in the USA and commented on the situation as follows: “I see the interest of all specialists in the development of manned astronautics, and we continued to fly.”

On September 5 at 12:00 pm Eastern Coast time (19:00 Moscow time), the Spacex Crew Dragon spacecraft was launched from the American space station at Cape Canaveral. Anna Kikina was on board with two Americans and one Japanese. So the first flight of our astronaut on a private American ship took place.

The so-called cross-flight program should reduce the intensity of confrontation in world space exploration, and at the same time in politics.

Flight participants could take personal items weighing less than a kilogram into orbit. In addition to photographs of relatives and friends, Kikina took with her the symbol of the city of Novosibirsk – Gorodovichka. This is a knitted man with a bright lush hairstyle. By the way, psychologically, Anna was ready to be separated from her family and passed the final test perfectly.

Anna Kikina is the only woman in the Russian space team today. And the fifth woman in the history of Russian cosmonautics is a professional cosmonaut who has overcome gravity.