Gregory Olsen Will Spend A Week There

Two days after lifting off from Kazakhstan, the crew of International Space Station Expedition 12, along with space tourist Greg Olsen, docked at the ISS, met with the traditional Russian greeting of bread and salt.

Docking was considered nominal, although five minutes ahead of schedule. The Soyuz spacecraft mated with the space station five minutes ahead of schedule, at 0127 EDT.

The new crew is comprised of American astronaut William McArthur and cosmonaut Valery Tokarev. Olsen, who paid $20 million for the privilege of riding into space aboard the Russian spacecraft, will stay for about a week before returning home.

Russia's space agency has warned that, at the end of Crew 12's six-month mission, it won't guarantee McArthur's return to Earth, citing the current funding disagreement between Russia and the US. Washington is miffed at Moscow's continued funding of Iranian nuclear experiments. But Russia's space agency struck a conciliatory note on that issue Monday.

"There are no technical questions. As for political questions, NASA's administration today is resolving them in a positive manner," said Russian space agency chief Anatoly Perminov.

FMI: www.nasa.gov