spacetoday.net: New crew arrives at ISS

Posted: Sat, Mar 28, 2015, 7:45 AM ET (1145 GMT)
Soyuz TMA-16M launch (NASA)

Two Russians and one American arrived at the International Space Station Friday night, six hours after their launch from Kazakhstan. A Soyuz rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 3:42 pm EDT Friday (1942 GMT Friday, 1:42 am local time Saturday) and placed the Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft into orbit. The spacecraft docked with the Poisk module of the ISS at 9:33 pm EDT Friday (0133 GMT Saturday), and hatches separating the Soyuz and station opened two hours later. The Soyuz brought to the station American astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Gennady Padalka, who joined the America, Russian, and Italian ISS crewmembers. Kelly and Kornienko will spend nearly one year on the station to help scientists better understand the medical effects of long-duration spaceflight.