MOSCOW (AP) ― A Soyuz capsule carrying three astronauts successfully docked Friday with the International Space Station, bringing the size of the crew at the orbiting lab to six.
Chris Cassidy of the United States and Russians Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin traveled six hours in the capsule before linking up with the space station’s Russian Rassvet research module over the Pacific Ocean, just off Peru, at 02:28 GMT.
“It’s such a beautiful sight, hard to believe my eyes,” the 59-year-old Vinogradov, who had been in space in 1997 and 2006, was heard saying on NASA TV.
The Soyuz-TMA-08M rocket carrying a new crew to the International Space Station blasts off at the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Friday. (AP-Yonhap News)
The incoming crew will spend five months in space before returning to Earth.
About two hours passed before pressure equalized between the capsule and the station, allowing safe entrance.
“Hey, is anyone home?” joked Vinogradov as he floated into the station.
Cassidy, Vinogradov and Misurkin were greeted with cheers and hugs by American Tom Mashburn, Russian Roman Romanenko and Canadian Chris Hadfield, who have been at the station since December.
The astronauts then had a brief session with Mission Control outside Moscow, talking with friends and relatives.