KOROLYOV, Moscow region. Nov 16 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian cosmonauts Anton Skaplerov and Anatoli Ivanishin, as well as U.S. astronaut Daniel Burbank have opened the hatch between the Soyuz TMA-22, which brought them to the orbit, and the International Space Station (ISS), an Interfax-AVN correspondent reported from the Mission Control Center (MCC) near Moscow.
After opening hatches, the Soyuz crew boarded the station, with U.S. astronaut Michael Fossum, Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov and Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa already waiting for them there.
The Soyuz TMA-22 manned spacecraft with the three astronauts on board docked to the Poisk Module of the ISS Russian segment at 9:24 a.m. Moscow time on Wednesday, ten minutes ahead of schedule.
The Soyuz that lifted off from Baikonur last Monday is the last one of the old series using analog control systems. It is being replaced by the Soyuz TMA-M ship, which has already been to the orbit twice. The Soyuz TMA-03M with the next ISS expedition is due to lift off on December 21, 2011.
The current ISS crew will return to Earth on November 22.