Posted on: Monday, April 28, 2003

Capsule docks with space station

By Marad D. Bellaby
Associated Press

MOSCOW — The Soyuz TMA-2 space capsule carrying American astronaut Edward Lu and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko docked yesterday with the international space station in a key step to replacing the station's three-man crew, space officials said.

The docking took place on schedule at 7:56 p.m. Hawai'i time about 250 miles above Russian territory.

Lu and Malenchenko are replacing U.S. astronauts Kenneth Bowersox and Donald Pettit and Russian cosmonaut Nikolai Budarin, who were stuck on the station after the Columbia shuttle disaster.

The Russian spacecraft blasted off Saturday morning on its way to the $60 billion space station.

Within about 10 minutes of the automated docking, the Russian spacecraft was sealed to the space station. Then after 90 minutes of checks for any leaks, the hatch was opened, allowing the crews to greet one another, said Rob Navias, spokesman for NASA.

Lu and Malenchenko brought gifts to celebrate the birthdays of Pettit, who turned 48 on April 20, and Budarin who turns 50 tomorrow.

The crews also have a lot of information to exchange. The trio on the international space station must give the newcomers a tour and go through safety procedures.

The three returning crew members will be taking back an older Soyuz already docked to the station, while the one carrying Lu and Malenchenko will remain as an emergency lifeboat.

The trio's return on the Soyuz will mark the first time that U.S. astronauts have come home on a Russian vessel. Originally they had planned to return on a U.S. shuttle but the Columbia disaster forced the grounding of the U.S. fleet.

Lu, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Hawai 'i's Institute for Astronomy from 1992-95, and Malenchenko are scheduled to remain onboard until October.