Soyuz TMA-08M docked successfully with ISS

The Soyuz TMA-08M spacecraft docked with the Mini-Research Module POISK of the ISS Russian Segment. The rendezvous was performed automatically under the control of specialists from Mission Control Center of TsNIIMash, crew of the mission consisting of two Russian cosmonauts, Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineer Aleksandr Misurkin (ROSCOSMOS), and one U.S. astronaut, Flight Engineer Christopher Cassidy (NASA), and the Russian ISS crew member Roman Romanenko.

The Soyuz TMA-08M was launched and docked with the ISS successfully by the four-orbit scheme that has been first used for crewed flight.

Upon opening the hatches between the spaceship and ISS, the crew of Expedition 35/36 will start its work consisting of Commander Chris Hadfield (Canadian Space Agency), Flight Engineers Roman Romanenko, Pavel Vinogradov, Aleksandr Misurkin (ROSCOSMOS), Thomas Marshburn and Christopher Cassidy (NASA).
The tasks to be fulfilled by the Russian ISS crew during the long-duration 35/36 Expedition (30 March – 14 May 2013) are as follows:
— The Progress M-18M loading and undocking from PIRS docking compartment;
— The Progress M-17M loading and undocking from propulsion compartment of Service Module Zvezda;
— The ATV-4 docking with propulsion compartment of Service Module Zvezda;
— The Progress M-19M docking with PIRS docking compartment and its partial unloading;
— Supporting of the Soyuz TMA-07M loading and undocking from Mini-Research Module RASSVET (return of three crew members of Expedition 34/35);
— One spacewalk from the ISS RS;
— ISS working capacity maintenance;
— Photo and video image acquisition of the ISS flight.
During the Expedition, the crew will be supporting a comprehensive program of scientific studies and experiments (50 experiments: 48 experiments have been already started in previous expeditions and two ones are new) is planned to be realized.
The following science operations will be underway throughout the Expedition:

— Physico-Chemical Processes and Materials in Space – 2 experiments;
— The Earth and Space Research (a new experiment „Obstanovka-1st stage“) – 10 experiments;
— Man in Space – 6 experiments;
— Space Biology and Biotechnology – 17 experiments;
— Space Exploration Technologies (a new experiment „Kontrol“) – 12 experiments;
— Education and Space Research popularization — 3 experiments.

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