ISS Gets First Visitors This Year

It's lonely up there, with just two other humans to play with. Now that the Soyuz has docked with the International Space Station, it's just a few hats short of a full-fledged party. They'll probably get to watch a "moonset" (as photographed, right, in composite by astronaut Don Pettit) several times a day, as it can be seen only from Space -- no clouds).

Monday, aboard the International Space Station, the Expedition Six crew welcomed its first visitors in more than four months. After a successful docking, the hatches between the station and the Soyuz TMA-2 spacecraft were opened and Expedition Seven Commander Yuri Malenchenko and NASA ISS Science Officer Ed Lu entered the ISS at 2:27 a.m. CDT (0727 GMT).

They were welcomed by Expedition Six Commander Ken Bowersox, Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin and NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit, who have working been aboard the orbital outpost since November 25, 2002. Docking occurred at 12:56 a.m. CDT (0556 GMT) as the two spacecraft sailed over Kazakhstan in central Asia.

Three to Beam Down

The two crews will conduct joint operations this week. Among their handover activities, Expedition Six crewmembers will brief the new crew about ongoing science and station maintenance activities. On Saturday, Expedition Six will depart the station and return to Earth aboard the Soyuz TMA-1 spacecraft, ending a longer-than-planned stay, extended by the Columbia disaster and investigation.

Malenchenko and Lu (pictured) are the first people to visit Expedition Six since STS-113 left the station on December 2, 2002. They are the first humans to be launched into space since Space Shuttle Columbia and the STS-107 crew were lost during re-entry on February 1. Expedition Seven is slated to spend six months aboard the station.

FMI: www.nasa.gov