Expedition 36: New ISS Crew Arrives at Space Station in Record Time

A Soyuz spacecraft carrying the Expedition 36/37 crew to the International Space Station is seen in station cameras just before docking on May 28, 2013.

CREDIT: NASA TV

An international trio of astronauts has just become the newest residents of a space station in orbit after a record-setting trip.

Five hours and 40 minutes after a successful Soyuz rocket launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan earlier today (May 28), Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, NASA's Karen Nyberg and Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency docked their Soyuz spacecraft at the International Space Station at 10:10 p.m. EDT (0210 May 29 GMT).

The new crew will remain on the space station for the next six months.

"I've never felt better in my life," Yurchikhin said just after the Soyuz docked at the station in record time while sailing high above the South Pacific.

You can watch live coverage of the hatch opening on NASA TV starting at 11:30 p.m. EDT (0330 May 29 GMT), with hatch opening scheduled for 11:55 p.m. EDT (0355 May 29 GMT).