UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th July, 2023) Russian cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov said in an interview with Sputnik that he is set to fly on the SpaceX spacecraft Crew Dragon for the first time and wants to compare his experience to flying on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
"I would like to continue flying into space and I would really like to compare it (Soyuz) to the Crew Dragon. I have been preparing for so long to fly on the Soyuz. I want to realize this," Borisov told Sputnik.
The Russian cosmonaut explained that he is flying to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of a bilateral agreement between the United States and Russia to conduct so-called "rotational flights" to the ISS on Russian and US spacecraft.
As part of the agreement, Borisov is scheduled to fly to the ISS on August 17 on the Crew Dragon spacecraft, while US astronaut Tracy Dyson will fly on the Soyuz MS-25 in September.
Borisov said he hopes to do a spacewalk in the future and also did not rule out his contribution to the lunar program.
"All cosmonauts and astronauts want to move toward the lunar program," he said.
Borisov noted that Russian cosmonauts are looking forward to returning to the moon on the Luna-25 lander and are also closely following the US lunar program Artemis.
"I am at the very beginning of my (space) career, but if everything goes well, I will be able to fly for another 10-15 years and then (flying to) the moon would be possible," he said.
Borisov praised plans for even more remote flights such as to Mars, announced by SpaceX owner Elon Musk, who is " not only dreaming, but also working to make it possible."
"I know for sure that people will be on Mars, I just don't know when," Borisov said. "I am very interested to see how SpaceX and other companies are trying to do it. ... It's great that we are moving in this direction," he said.
The Crew Dragon has a crew of four - Russian, Japanese, American and European astronauts, who will remain in orbit for about 190 days.
