NASA - Soyuz International Space Station - 3 Soyuz Wessels docked at the ISS - 1st Time ever!

NASA - NASA-International Space Station

Image above: The Expedition 20 and 21 crew members gathered in the Zvezda service module for a conference with family members and representatives on the ground. Credit: NASA TV

Flight Engineers Jeff Williams and Maxim Suraev along with spaceflight participant Guy Laliberte have arrived at the International Space Station. They docked their Soyuz TMA-16 to the aft end of the Zvezda service module at 4:35 a.m. EDT Friday. They launched Wednesday at 3:14 a.m. from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.

View Soyuz docking video

The newest station crew members entered the station after opening the hatches between the two spacecraft at 6:57 a.m.

Williams and Suraev are relieving Expedition 20 Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Michael Barratt who will depart in several days with their Canadian visitor, Laliberte. The three crew members will enter the Soyuz TMA-14 and undock from the Pirs docking compartment at 9:05 p.m. EDT on Oct. 10. They will land in Kazakhstan about three and a half hours later.

Their departure signifies the end of Expedition 20 and the start of Expedition 21. European astronaut Frank De Winne will have completed his duties as Expedition 20 Flight Engineer and assumed command of the International Space Station.

De Winne, of the European Space Agency, arrived at the station May 29, 2009. He is scheduled to return to Earth on Dec. 1, 2009 in the same vehicle in which he arrived, the Soyuz TMA-15, which is attached to Zarya's Earth-facing port. De Winn's departure in December will leave Jeff Williams in charge of the station as Expedition 22 commander.


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