German, U.S., Russian Crews Dock With Space Station

The Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft blasts off carrying the crew of Serena Aunon-Chancellor of the U.S, Alexander Gerst of Germany, and Sergei Prokopyev of Russia.

Crew members from the United States, Germany, and Russia docked with the International Space Station (ISS), joining the current crew, NASA and Russia's space agency said.

NASA and Roskosmos on June 8 said that Russian Sergei Prokopyev, Germany's Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency, and NASA's Serena Aunon-Chancellor successfully docked with the ISS at 13:01 GMT/UTC and entered the orbiting space laboratory.

They joined current crew members -- Americans Drew Feustel and Richard Arnold and Russian Oleg Artemyev -- who have been in space since March.

The new crew members, who blasted off from the Russian-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan on June 6, are expected to remain on the ISS for five months.

The ISS has been in Earth orbit since 1998 and represents a rare area of cooperation between Russia and the West in a time of increased global tensions.

Based on reporting by AP and TASS