14 DAY TRIAL // Late last night, the Soyuz TMA-21 spacecraft docked successfully aboard the International Space Station (ISS). It delivered three astronauts to the orbital lab, and marked the official beginning of Expedition 27.
Docking occurred at 7:09 pm EDT (2309 GMT) on Wednesday, April 6, when the Russian-built space capsule attached itself to the Poisk module of the ISS. Special hooks than clasped the vehicle firmly into place.
The new mission has been nicknamed Gagarin, after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space. He did one orbit around the Earth on April 12, 1961, aboard a spherical Vostok 1 capsule, and landed some 108 minutes later.
His achievement came on the heels of another Soviet success, which was the launch of the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, in October 1957. These two events are widely considered to be the beginning of the space race between the Soviet Union and the United States.
Now, 50 years later, relationships between the US and Russia are friendly, and they cooperate towards constructing the ISS and keeping it operational. The Soyuz Gagarin reached the station carrying two Russian space flyers and a NASA astronaut.
Cosmonauts Alexander Samokutyaev and Andrey Borisenko (RosCosmos), and NASA astronaut Ron Garan, are joining the former Expedition 26 crew, made up of Commander Dmitri Kondratyev (RosCosmos), Catherine Coleman (NASA) and Paolo Nespoli (European Space Agency).
The spacecraft spent two days in orbit catching up with the ISS, after being launched on Monday, April 4, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, in Kazakshtan. It took off at 22:18 UTC.
“It was a great couple of days and we're ready to get to work,” Garan said of the station-bound trip after the capsule had docked to the Poisk module. He and Samokutyaev will be flight engineers throughout Expedition 27 and the upcoming Expedition 28.
Throughout this Expedition, Borisenko will also be a flight engineer, but he will take command of the station once Expedition 28 begins. The three space flyers and Soyuz Gagarin will remain on the orbital facility until September 2011.
During their stay, they will receive the last two visits of the American space shuttles. Endeavor will launch on its STS-134 mission on April 29, whereas Atlantis will carry out its final flight, STS-135, in June. The orbiters will then be retired, Space reports.