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    November 16, 2011

International Space Station Welcomes New Crew

   VOA News
   Unpiloted ISS Progress resupply vehicle approaches space station, Nov.
   2, 2011.
   Photo: NASA
   Unpiloted ISS Progress resupply vehicle approaches space station, Nov.
   2, 2011.

   A Russian Soyuz rocket carrying an American and two Russians has docked
   with the International Space Station (ISS), briefly doubling the
   facility's occupancy.
   The hatch between the Soyuz TMA-22 and the ISS opened Wednesday to
   welcome new crew members for the first time since NASA retired the
   space shuttle program in July.
   The new three-person crew launched Monday from a snowy Baikonur
   Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The mission had been delayed two months due
   to safety concerns following the August crash of a Soyuz cargo rocket.
   The station's six inhabitants will have less than one week together
   before the current ISS crew, comprising American, Russian and Japanese
   members, returns to Kazakhstan November 22. The new crew is scheduled
   for a March 2012 return to Earth.
   The next scheduled launch bound for the ISS is December 21.
   The Russian space program has experienced several mishaps in recent
   months. An August 24 unmanned launch attempt experienced a catastrophic
   failure.
   Russia has likely lost the Phobos-Grunt Mars probe, which failed to
   leave Earth's orbit after Wednesday's launch. Experts continue efforts
   to re-establish a proper trajectory and send the wayward spacecraft
   toward Mars.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.