From Star City to Cape Canaveral, how a cosmonaut trains for a SpaceX flight

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Although US astronauts are able to launch from Florida, some American astronauts still launch aboard Soyuz. Tracy Caldwell Dyson, an American, is aboard the ISS as of this writing, arriving after a liftoff from Kazakhstan on Soyuz MS-25. NASA and Roscosmos recently reached an agreement for a ride share, allowing one open seat for astronauts on Soyuz, and in turn one seat on American commercial crew vehicles for cosmonauts.

The next crew mission to the International Space Station is set to fly aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, and in addition to three NASA astronauts that will be onboard, the fourth seat will go to cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. The integration of these crews could cause for training problems.

Gorbunov spoke with NSF with the assistance of an interpreter about his upcoming flight and training and noting what it takes for a cosmonaut to train to fly with astronauts.

“I think that almost everything, from preparation, to the launch, to the final landing, all six months, everything will be new,” first-time flyer Gorbunov said. “I will be absorbing all the information around me every single second, just like a sponge.”

Born in Zheleznogorsk, Kursk region, Russia, he studied engineering with qualifications in spacecraft and upper stages from the Moscow Aviation Institute, graduating with honors.

Alexander Gorbunov during Russian survival training in 2021. (Credit: Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center)

In 2012, he worked for RSC Energia, a major rocket manufacturer, in multiple departments including assisting in cargo launches to the ISS from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Gorbunov’s official cosmonaut path began in 2015 with what Roscosmos calls a “mini exam,” checking his health and fitness.

After applying for the 2018 cosmonaut class, he was selected as a test cosmonaut, before making the corps in 2020. Just a few years later, Gorbunov learned he would be flying aboard the American-made Crew Dragon.

When it came to training for the mission, Gorbunov noted that the emphasis was mainly on what he’ll be doing aboard the ISS rather than how he will get there.

“I must say that naturally the training that I received from Roscosmos was much larger, just because I will have to be on the Russian segment performing all types of operations, servicing the Russian segment, maintenance, [and] also scientific experiments,” Gorbunov said.

Alexander Gorbunov during a training session ahead of Crew-9’s launch. (Credit: NASA)

However, he did note that there was still training with NASA.

“As for NASA training, I was mainly trained to perform certain actions on the U.S. segment in case of an emergency,” Gorbunov said. “We had a lot of training to see how we will be working in emergency and contingency situations. Those were all crew training events.”

The cosmonaut emphasized that while he may be from a different country, a key part of the mission’s success is becoming one crew.

“Now I know we are a single body, we are a single organism, we understand each other,” Gorbunov noted. “We trust each other, most importantly.”

In 2022, NASA and Roscosmos reached a ride share agreement despite growing tensions over what would later become a war in Ukraine. As part of the deal, no money would be exchanged, however a slot would remain open for one American to fly on Soyuz and one Russian aboard a NASA commercial crew vehicle.

The first time a Russian flew aboard a US commercial vehicle through this deal was Anna Kikina as part of the Crew-5 mission flying aboard Crew Dragon. Cosmonauts have previously flown aboard the space shuttle.

At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, NASA astronaut Frank Rubio (left), Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev (center), and Roscosmos cosmonaut Dmitri Petelin (right) are in front of their Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft prior to launch. The Soyuz spacecraft bears the name of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the “father” of cosmonautics.
(Credit: NASA/Victor Zelentsov)

In the gap between the final shuttle launch in 2011 and the first operational commercial crew flight in late 2020, NASA purchased seats aboard Soyuz.

Frank Rubio was the first astronaut selected to receive the seat for free as part of this deal to fly from Baikonur.

Gorbunov said it’s difficult to truly compare what it’s like to be trained on both the Soyuz and Crew Dragon vehicles as a whole.

“So here it would probably be better to compare my training as the Flight Engineer 2 on Soyuz, and the mission specialist position training for Crew Dragon, and if we compare those two, then the time that we spend training and the knowledge that we receive training is… more or less the same,” Gorbunov said. “So, the main thing that the mission specialist, as well as the flight engineer too, are responsible for is to make sure that they are safe during their nominal mission or during any emergency as well as helping the commander and pilot in different situations upon request and if necessary.”

The official portrait of the NASA SpaceX Crew-9 mission crew. (Credit: NASA)

Once onboard the ISS, a lot of science will be completed on the Russian segment. While we don’t hear much about experiments run on the non-American side, Gorbunov discussed some of the science he will perform including chemistry, medical experiments, and one that he’s really excited for that’s physics based.

“We have an electrovacuum furnace on board the Nauka Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) and we are going to place a sample inside that furnace, and it will be melted first and then it will be crystallizing back in the environment of microgravity,” Gorbunov said with an excited voice before it was translated to English. “Scientists are specifically interested in the crystal structure of that material, how it will be crystallizing back. So that sample will be returned to the ground and then it will be studied from all different angles.

“For me, this experiment is interesting not only because of its scientific nature, but also because of the fact that the crew takes an active part in it.”

Gorbunov also mentioned an experiment called Pilot-T, which will study the human body with the help of multiple tools including an encephalogram. The hope is not only to study physical change, he said, but how the human memory changes over time.

His flight is expected to launch in August 2024 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

As of now there are no plans to end the ride share agreement between the two space agencies even with current political climates.

(Lead image: Dragon Endeavour and Dragon C208-2 docked to the ISS. Credit: Thomas Pesquet/ESA)

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