The NASA astronaut, Russian Soyuz Commander Yuri Malenchenko and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency flight engineer Akihiko Hoshide arrived at the International Space Station after two days in orbit.
A cheerful Sunita Williams and two of her colleagues on Tuesday successfully docked their Soyuz capsule with the International Space Station for a four-month scientific mission, two days after the record-setting Indian- American astronaut blasted off for her second space odyssey.
NASA astronaut Williams, 46, Russian Soyuz Commander Yuri Malenchenko and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency flight engineer Akihiko Hoshide arrived at the ISS after two days in orbit aboard Russian-made Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft, which took off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in southern Kazakhstan on Sunday.
"It's great to be up here and it's great to see Joe and Sergei. They have welcomed us with open arms and we are ready to work as a six-person crew," Sunita said referring to the two cosmonauts already at the ISS, after entering the space station.
"Everything is perfect," Malenchenko radioed Russia's Mission Control Centre in Korolev after joining three astronauts who have been on the space station since May.
The Soyuz capsule docked automatically with the Rassvet module at around 10:21 IST.
The hatches between the Soyuz and the Rassvet module was opened at 0723 GMT (12:53 IST) and Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineers Joe Acaba and Sergei Revin greeted their new crewmates.
"The six-member crew conducted a welcoming ceremony with family and mission officials then participated in a safety briefing," NASA said in a statement.
"It feels great. It is just like a homecoming," Malenchenko said, adding that, "We can see right away that some things have changed. But (the station) is in great shape and the crew looks great. We are happy to be here."
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