Union “docked with the International Space Station and delivered to the station a new expedition – BFM.Ru

The crew grew up to 6 people

The Russian manned spacecraft “Soyuz TMA-15M” docked with the ISS. He delivered to the station international crew, the press service of the Russian Space Agency. See also: Approved by the crew of a new expedition to the ISS

«Soyuz TMA-15M”, “docked” to a small research module “Rassvet” of the Russian segment of the ISS at 05:48 MSK. Convergence process was carried out in an automatic mode. After that, the crew of the “Union” opened hatches and moved to the ISS.

The current ISS crew has increased to six. By Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexander Samokutyaevu and Elena Serova, and NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore joined Commander Anton Shkaplerov flight engineer Samantha Kristoferetti (European Space Agency) and Terry Vertsom Administration (NASA).

The updated crew will work with the cargo vehicle “Progress M-25M”, “Progress M-26M”, “Progress M-27M” European cargo spacecraft ATV-5 «Georges Lemaitre» truck and Japanese HTV-5 «Kounotori»; prepare for the return to Earth of three crew members on the “Soyuz TMA-14M”; will take part in operations management docking “Soyuz TMA-16M” with the ISS to a small research module «Search».

In addition, the work plan includes an extensive program of scientific and applied research and experiments in various fields: space biotechnology , biomedical research, remote sensing, etc. In total, during the expedition astronauts will conduct 59 experiments Roscosmos. Cosmonauts and astronauts also will support the operation of the ISS station and retrofit equipment delivered by cargo ships.

The planned duration of the crew on board the ISS is 169 days, noted in Roskosmos.