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Celebrations aboard ISS following safe docking of Soyuz craft
by Samia Sehgal - December 23, 2009 - comments
"It's 154 times better than great," said Timothy J. Creamer of America, who's traveling to space for the first time.
Moscow, December 23 -- Russian spacecraft Soyuz TMA-17, carrying a Russian cosmonaut, a NASA astronaut and a Japanese astronaut, successfully docked at the International Space Station (ISS) at 22:48 GMT.
The craft had taken off from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Monday.
"It was a very smooth automatic docking," said Russia's Mission Control spokesman, Valery Lyndin. "All systems worked without a hitch."
Hi5 for the five orbiting high
The three entrants at the ISS were greeted by Expedition 22 Commander Jeff Williams and Flight Engineer Maxim Suraev, who have been there since October.
Timothy J. Creamer of America, Soichi Noguchi of Japan and Russia's Oleg Kotov joined Williams and Suraev as they sail hundreds of miles above the Earth. And up there, all five of them donned Santa caps, making sure the Christmas spirit was no less vibrant at the ISS.
"It's great to see all you guys on orbit," said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's chief of space operations, talking from the Russian mission control center near Moscow. "Have a great Christmas, a good New Year. I can't think of a better family to have in space than you. I'm here with your families in the control center, so have a great expedition."
"Thank you, Gerst, it's good to hear your voice, it's great to have these guys on board," said Williams from the ISS. "It completes the complement of Expedition 22."
ISS inhabitants
After arriving at the ISS in October, Williams and Suraev have been there by themselves since Dec. 1, when three other ISS residents made it back to the Earth after staying in the orbit for six months. Williams and Suraev are scheduled to return in March 2010, while three new members will be sent to the ISS in April 2010. Noguchi, Kotov and Creamer will stay on for six months.
Noguchi, the first professional Japanese astronaut to fly aboard the Soyuz, is travelling to space for the second time and so is Kotov, who was aboard the station for six months in 2007. However, for Creamer, it is the first journey beyond Earth’s atmosphere. Before leaving, the American assured the people back here that he will keep them updated via Twitter.
On reaching the ISS, an obviously elated Creamer said, “Everything's doing really great here. It's better than great, it's 154 times better than great. So thanks for the well wishes.”
The international space station, with contributions from the United States, Canada, Russia, Japan and the European Space Agency, is currently orbiting with 11 modules built on it.