In a line television relay pertaining to the newly-modernized Russian Soyuz TMA-01M spacecraft, mission control reported that the craft had successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday, October 9.

According to the details forwarded by mission control, the spacecraft, which took off two days back from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, docked with the ISS at 8:01 p. m. EDT on Saturday.

Valery Lydin, spokesman for mission control in Moscow, told the Interfax news agency the docking of the Soyuz TMA-01M with the ISS had taken place automatically. Lydin further added that the US-Russian crew-members aboard the craft – Scott Kelly, Alexander Kaleri, and Oleg Skripochka - would open the hatches and enter the space station within three hours after docking.

Confirming the spacecraft’s “capture and docking” with the ISS, mission control added that “the ISS crew has doubled in size”, with the three-member Soyuz crew joining the three other astronauts currently aboard ISS - station commander Doug Wheelock and flight engineers Shannon Walker, and Fyodor Yurchikhin. Together, these astronauts round out the ‘Expedition 25’ crew.

During their stay at the ISS, the astronauts will be involved in general upkeep of the station, along with carrying out scientific research and experiments. In November, Kelly will take over command of the ISS’ ‘Expedition 26’, after Wheelock, Walker and Yurchikhin return home.