Soyuz TMA-03M Docks, Hatches Open

Russia may have suffered another launch failure today, but on a better news front, the Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS).

The three Soyuz TMA-03M crew joined the three current residents of the ISS, restoring the space station to its full complement of six.  Soyuz TMA-03M docked at 10:19 am EST and the hatches between the Soyuz and the ISS opened at 12:43 pm EST. The six crew members include three Russians, two Americans, and one European.  To keep up with who’s on board the ISS and what they are doing, visit NASA’s ISS website.

Russia has a launch vehicle named Soyuz (Union), and a spacecraft named Soyuz, which can be confusing.   The Soyuz spacecraft is launched by a Soyuz launch vehicle, adding to the confusion.   The Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft was launched by a Soyuz-FG launch vehicle.   It is somewhat different than the Soyuz-2 that failed today and somewhat different than the Soyuz-U that failed in August.   However, because of the similarities among the vehicles, following the August failure Russia delayed further launches of the Soyuz-FG until they were certain that the Soyuz-FG was safe to fly.  It is too early to know if today’s launch failure will affect future crew launches to the ISS.