spacetoday.net: Soyuz docks with ISS

Posted: Mon, Oct 20, 2003, 10:21 AM ET (1421 GMT)
Soyuz TMA-2 docked to ISS (NASA)

A Soyuz spacecraft carrying the next crew for the International Space Station docked with the orbiting facility early Monday. The Soyuz TMA-3 spacecraft docked with the Pirs module of the ISS at 3:16 am EDT (0716 GMT); hatches between the two spacecraft opened three hours later. The Soyuz TMA-3 is carrying the Expedition 8 crew of Michael Foale and Alexander Kaleri, as well as visiting Spanish astronaut Pedro Duque. The Expedition 7 crew of Ed Lu and Yuri Malenchenko is scheduled to leave the station, along with Duque, next Monday using the older Soyuz TMA-2 spacecraft that has been docked with the station for nearly six months. Foale and Kaleri, both veterans of long-duration stays on the former Russian space station Mir, are scheduled to stay on the ISS for the next six months.