Expedition 14 Soyuz TMA 9 docks with the International Space Station

Expedition 14 Soyuz TMA 9 spacec Docks with the International Space Station at 1:21 a.m. EDT Sept 20th 2006. Expedition 14 Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin are scheduled to enter the station when the hatches are opened at around 4:30 a.m., where they will be greeted by the Expedition 13 crew.

Credit: NASA TV

With Tyurin at the controls, their Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft docked smoothly at the aft port of the Zvezeda service module. They launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan early Monday

Accompanying Expedition 14 is American Anousheh Ansari, who will be the first female spaceflight participant to visit the station. She is flying under contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency.

Lopez-Alegria and Tyurin will replace Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov and NASA Science Officer Jeff Williams. European Space Agency Astronaut Thomas Reiter will remain on the station and join Expedition 14.

Vinogradov, Williams and Ansari are slated to return to Earth on Sept. 28.

---

Credit: NASA/CalTech