14 DAY TRIAL // Three spaceflyers have reached the International Space Station today, May 17, at 0436 GMT, completing the Expedition 31 crew. The astronauts are scheduled to remain in space for four months rather than the usual six, due to the fact that the launch of their spacecraft was postponed for several weeks.
The trio took off aboard the Soyuz TMA-04M space capsule, which was built by contractor RSC Energia for the Russian Federal Space Agency (RosCosmos). The vehicle was delayed on account of a technical glitch discovered in its electrical systems this March.
Docking occurred as both the ISS and the Soyuz were flying in low-Earth orbit (LEO), approximately 400 kilometers (249 miles) above Mongolia and Kazakhstan. The astronauts passed through the hatch separating the vehicles at 0800 GMT.
Soyuz TMA-04M carried Expedition 32 Commander Gennady Padalka and flight engineer Sergei Revin, both from RosCosmos, and NASA astronaut and Expedition 31 flight engineer, Joseph Acaba.
This was Padalka's fourth mission to space. He visited the ISS during two other missions, and spent some time aboard the Russian Mir space station, which was deorbited back on March 23, 2001.
As soon as the two vehicles docked, Padalka established radio contact with the RosCosmos Mission Control Center, in Moscow, and transmitted that the procedure went smoothly and flawlessly. A NASA commentator said that the docking also marked Acaba's 45th birthday.
Waiting for them inside the ISS were NASA astronaut and Expedition 31 Commander Don Pettit, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Andre Kuipers, from the Netherlands, and RosCosmos flight engineer Oleg Kononenko, Space reports. The three arrived at the outpost on April 27, 2012.
The first trio of the mission will return to Earth this July, while the newly-arrived spaceflyers will return home in mid-September. When the first half of the expedition departs, Pettit will transfer command of the station to Padalka, and Expedition 31 will be officially concluded.
The newly-launched trio took off on May 14, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan. Initially, the launch was supposed to take place on March 29, but that date could not be respected due to errors.
Expedition 31 crewmembers will take part in a historic event next week, when the first, privately built spacecraft is scheduled to reach the station. California-based SpaceX will launch its Dragon capsule to the ISS on Saturday, May 19, and hopes for a successful docking a couple of days later.