Russian Soyuz TMA-15M successfully docks with ISS

VLADIVOSTOK - Russia's manned spacecraft Soyuz TMA-15M with a new international crew aboard successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday.

According to the Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos, Soyuz TMA-15M automatically docked with the ISS at 5:48 am Moscow time (0248 GMT). The hatches between the spacecraft and the space station opened at 8:00 am Moscow time (0500 GMT).

New crew members -- Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos, Terry Virts of NASA and Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency -- joined Russian cosmonauts Alexander Samokutyayev and Yelena Serova, and NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore on board the ISS.

The crew is expected to perform an extensive program of applied tests and experiments, and carry out missions with the Russian cargo spacecraft Progress and the European cargo spaceship ATV-5.

The spacewalks under the Russian space program are not planned.