spacetoday.net: New crew arrives at ISS

Posted: Mon, Nov 24, 2014, 6:44 AM ET (1144 GMT)
Soyuz TMA-15M arriving at ISS (NASA)

A Soyuz spacecraft carrying three people launched from Kazakhstan early Monday and arrived at the International Space Station less than six hours later. The Soyuz rocket carrying the Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 4:01 pm EST Sunday (2101 GMT Sunday, 3:01 am local time Monday) and placed the spacecraft into orbit. The Soyuz spacecraft, making a "fast track" four-orbit approach, docked with the ISS's Rassvet module at 9:48 pm EST Sunday (0248 GMT Monday). On board the Soyuz were three new ISS crewmembers: Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, American astronaut Terry Virts, and Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti. The three will remain on the station until May 2015. They join the two Russian cosmonauts and one American astronaut already on the station.