Kaleri, Skripochka, Kelly approach space station. Photo Credit/NASA TV
A Soyuz spacecraft carrying two Russians and an American successfully docked with the International Space Station late on Saturday, restoring the orbital outpost to a full complement of six astronauts for the first time since Sept. 25.
The linkup occurred on Saturday at 8:01 p.m, EDT.
Cosmonauts Alexander Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka and American colleague Scott Kelly lifted on on a six month mission from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan late on Oct. 7.
The Soyuz crew joined the station’s Expedition 25 astronauts, commander Doug Wheelock and flight engineer Shannon Walker of NASA, as well as flight engineer Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos.
The crew complement dropped to three people on Sept. 25, when a Soyuz with two Russians and an American descended to Earth as part of the NASA managed crew rotation strategy.
As that point, Wheelock became the commander