KOROLYOV, Moscow region. Sept 20 (Interfax-AVN) - The Soyuz TMA-8 space vehicle, which blasted off from the Baikonur spaceport on Monday, has docked with the International Space Station, an Interfax-AVN correspondent reported from Mission Control Center in Korolyov.
The docking could be seen on the screens at Mission Control, broadcast by the video cameras attached to the ISS and the Soyuz.
"The crew are preparing to open the transfer hatches between the station and the Soyuz, which will take three or four hours," Mission Control spokesman Valery Lyndin told Interfax-AVN.
The Soyuz is carrying the crew of the 14th main expedition, comprised of Mikhail Tyurin of Russia, NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria and the world's first female space tourist Anousheh Ansari.
The station is currently being run by the crew of the 13th expedition - Pavel Vinogradov of Russia, NASA astronaut Jeffrey Williams and Thomas Reiter of Germany, who arrived at the station aboard the space shuttle Discovery in July.
Vinogradov and Williams will be replaced by Tyurin and Lopez-Alegria, who will stay on the station during the next six months. Ansari will spend just over a week aboard the station and will return to the earth with the crew of the 13th expedition.