SpaceX Crew-5

Lore & Background

The crew for SpaceX Crew-5 comprised Commander Nicole Mann, pilot Josh Cassada, mission specialist Koichi Wakata, and mission specialist Anna Kikina. Three of the four crew members were assigned to this mission due to delays in Boeing's Starliner program: Mann was reassigned from Boeing's Boe-CFT mission, while Cassada and Wakata transferred from Boeing Starliner-1. Kikina was reassigned from Soyuz MS-22. Four crew members were on their first spaceflight; Wakata was a veteran of four previous spaceflights.

Anna Kikina's inclusion was part of the Soyuz-Dragon crew swap system, approved by Russian authorities in June 2022, ensuring that each crew rotation mission includes at least one NASA astronaut and one Roscosmos cosmonaut. This system allows both countries to maintain a presence on the ISS and sustain their systems if one vehicle is grounded. Kikina's flight was the first since STS-131 (April 2010), when cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov flew, that a Russian cosmonaut flew on a U.S. spacecraft, and the first launch of a Russian cosmonaut aboard a U.S. space capsule.

Reader's Guide

SpaceX Crew-5 holds significance as a milestone in U.S.-Russian space cooperation, being the first mission to carry a Russian cosmonaut aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft. This collaboration, formalized through the Soyuz-Dragon crew swap system, ensures that both NASA and Roscosmos maintain continuous representation on the ISS, providing redundancy in crew transport capabilities. The mission also highlighted the ongoing impact of Boeing's Starliner delays, as three crew members were reassigned from that program. Additionally, Crew-5 played a role in contingency planning after a micro-meteorite punctured the radiator of Soyuz MS-22, raising safety concerns. Until the replacement Soyuz MS-23 docked, Crew-5's Dragon Endurance was considered an emergency return option, and NASA astronaut Francisco Rubio's seat liner was moved from MS-22 to Dragon Endurance to provide lifeboat capabilities. This marked the first time a seat liner was swapped from Soyuz to Crew Dragon. The mission thus underscores the flexibility and interdependence of current ISS crew transport systems.

Did You Know?

• SpaceX Crew-5 was the first time a Russian cosmonaut, Anna Kikina, flew aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft.
• Four of the four crew members were on their first spaceflight; only Koichi Wakata was a veteran.
• A micro-meteorite punctured a 0.8 mm diameter hole in the radiator of Soyuz MS-22, leading to its replacement with Soyuz MS-23.
• NASA astronaut Francisco Rubio's seat liner was moved from Soyuz MS-22 to Dragon Endurance, the first such swap from Soyuz to Crew Dragon.