MOSCOW. Oct 20 (Interfax-AVN) - The crew of the Russian manned spacecraft Soyuz-TMA-3 met with the crew of the International Space Station (ISS) after the Soyuz docked with the ISS on Monday morning.
The hatches between Soyuz-TMA-3 and the ISS were opened at 2:15 p.m. Moscow time (1015 GMT), the press service for Mission Control (headquartered in Korolyov, Moscow region) told Interfax on Monday.
The crew of the spacecraft (Russian cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri, NASA astronaut Michael Foale and ESA agency astronaut Pedro Duque) have met with the ISS crew (Yury Malenchenko and Edward Lu), whom they will replace, Mission Control said. Duque was first to step aboard the ISS.
After the Soyuz crew have rested and examined the ISS, they will begin working on a joint program.
The 8th ISS mission was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome at 9:38 a.m. Moscow time on Saturday. The new crew is planning to conduct over 20 experiments aboard the ISS and exits into outer space.
The 8th mission will remain at the ISS for 200 days. Duque will return to Earth with the crew of the 7th mission, Yury Malenchenko and Edward Lu. Their return is scheduled for October 28.