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The International Space Station (ISS) has a specific smell, and so do the ships that arrive on it.

This is what Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina said on Thursday at an online conference, quoted by AFP and TASS.

"It has a specific smell.

You could rather say that arriving ships have different smells, but on board the ISS there is always a tinge, like after welding - you know, like hot metal," Kikina shared.

According to her, depending on the cargo that the ship is delivering, the usual smell of the station is mixed with others - of plastic or fruit, or both at the same time.

"It's an interesting combination, unusual," the astronaut said.

Anna Kikina also described the good relations with her colleagues during her stay on the ISS.

"It was a wonderful atmosphere!

I really enjoyed this flight, everything was comfortable," confided the 38-year-old engineer, adding: "I didn't experience any difficulties, we felt support for each other all the time, a good sense of humor reigned both on the station and in the spacecraft." Kikina said.

Space X launched an international crew into space with Russian participation

Anna Kikina is the first Russian cosmonaut to travel to the ISS as part of the NASA-Roscosmos cross-flight program aboard the US Dragon spacecraft.

She, NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Kasada, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency taikonaut Koichi Wakata arrived at the ISS last October before landing in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida on March 12.

Anna Kikina's flight duration was 157 days. 

The Soviet Union sent the first woman in space in history, Valentina Tereshkova, on June 16, 1963. She was followed by Svetlana Savitskaya, the first woman to go into outer space in July 1984. In October 2021, Russia also sent an actress, Julia Peresild, to shoot the first feature film in orbit, ahead of a competing Tom Cruise project.

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