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Space Station’s Crew Greets New Members

By  //  November 7, 2013

ISS population swells to 9

ABOVE VIDEO: Expedition 38 docked early Thursday morning just a little over six hours after launching in their Soyuz rocket from Kazakhstan.

NASA.gov — A new trio of Expedition 38 flight engineers opened the Soyuz and station hatches at 7:44 a.m. EST Thursday and were greeted by six station crew members.

The nine-member crew talks to family, friends and mission officials after Expedition 38 was welcomed aboard the International Space Station. (NASA.gov image)
The nine-member crew talks to family, friends and mission officials after Expedition 38 was welcomed aboard the International Space Station. (NASA.gov image)

They docked to the Rassvet docking compartment at 5:27 a.m. after lifting from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, at 11:14 p.m. Wednesday aboard a Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft.

New station crew members Mikhail Tyurin, Koichi Wakata and Rick Mastracchio joined Expedition 37 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineers Karen Nyberg, Luca Parmitano, Oleg Kotov, Mike Hopkins and Sergey Ryazanskiy.

NEW CREW ARRIVED AT 7:44 A.M.

This will be the first time since October 2009 that nine people have resided on the station without the presence of a space shuttle. However, just four days later the station residents will say goodbye to Yurchikhin, Nyberg and Parmitano, all Expedition 37 crew members, when they undock in the Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft and land in Kazakhstan about 3-1/2 hours later.

The Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft with Earth in the background is just moments away from docking to the Rassvet module. (NASA.gov image)
The Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft with Earth in the background is just moments away from docking to the Rassvet module. (NASA.gov image)

When the Expedition 37 trio returns home this Sunday they will have completed a 5-1/2 month stay in space. The station’s newest Expedition 38 trio will live and work in space until May 2014.

Expedition 38 officially begins when the home-bound trio undocks. Kotov will become station commander for the second time since Expedition 23 in 2010. Staying behind are veteran station residents Mikhail Tyurin and Koichi Wakata; Rick Mastracchio, a veteran of three shuttle missions; and Mike Hopkins and Sergey Ryazanskiy, who are both on their first missions.

NEWS CONFERENCE SCHEDULED FOR NOV. 8 AT 8:50 A.M.

When the Expedition 37 trio returns home this Sunday they will have completed a 5-1/2 month stay in space.

All nine crew members will participate in a joint crew news conference Friday Nov. 8 at 8:50 a.m. during their very busy four days together. The crew will talk about the upcoming 15th anniversary of the space station’s construction (the station has been continuously occupied for 13 years).

They will also discuss the spacewalk that takes place the very next day when Kotov and Ryazanskiy carry the Olympic torch outside the station. The torch, delivered by Expedition 38 and returning home with Expedition 37, will light the flame at the opening of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.