A Russian Soyuz spacecraft heralded a new space saga when it launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to take the new Expedition 17 crew to the International Space Station, to operate the artificial moon for the next half year.

That successful launch was announced by Starsem, Arianespace and their Russian partners.

After October 2010, the Soyuz likely will provide the only means of transporting U.S. astronauts to the space station, since the space shuttle fleet will retire then and not be replaced by the next-generation Orion-Ares American spacecraft until a half decade later.

The Soyuz docked with the space station, and Expedition 17 Commander Sergei Alexandrovich Volkov and cosmonaut Oleg Dmitrievich Kononenko entered the station.

They had docked their Soyuz TMA-12 with the space station Pirs Docking Compartment at 8:57 a.m. EDT Thursday, marking the beginning of their half-year stay aboard.

With Volkov, a lieutenant colonel in the Russian Air Force, and Kononenko was spaceflight participant Yi So-yeon. She is a South Korean flying under contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency.

She will return to Earth with Expedition 16 crew members Commander Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko in their Soyuz TMA-11 April 19. Expedition 16 launched to the station Oct. 10.

After the hatches opened at 11:40 a.m., the Expedition 17 crew members were welcomed by the Expedition 16 crew, including astronaut Garrett Reisman. Reisman launched to the station on the STS-123 mission of U.S. Space Shuttle Endeavour March 11. He joined Expedition 16 in progress and will provide Expedition 17 with an experienced flight engineer for the first part of its increment.

Volkov, 35, is making his first flight into space. He is a graduate of the Tambov Air Force Academy for Pilots. After serving as an air force pilot he began cosmonaut training in December 1997. He trained with the Expedition 11 crew and as a backup Expedition 13 crew member. He is the son of cosmonaut Alexander Volkov, who flew three long-duration missions in Soviet and Russian space stations from 1985 to 1992.

Kononenko, 43, also is making his first spaceflight. He is a graduate of the Aviation Institute and worked at the Russian Space Agency Central Specialized Design Bureau. He began cosmonaut training in June 1996. He trained with the Expedition 9 and Expedition 11 crews.

Astronaut Greg Chamitoff is scheduled to launch in a window opening May 31 on the STS-124 flight of Space Shuttle Discovery to join Expedition 17 in progress. He holds a Ph.D. in aeronautics and astronautics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was selected as an astronaut for the class of 1998. He will be making his first spaceflight.

Two Expedition 18 crew members are expected to arrive next fall to replace Volkov and Kononenko.

Welcome Aboard

After docking, the Expedition 17 crew members spent their first full day aboard the space station familiarizing themselves with their new home and working on a variety of experiments.

Expedition 16 and 17 crews began work on Bioemulsion, a Russian microorganism project, and ELITE-S2, an Italian Space Agency project that studies connections between the brain, motion and visualization in the absence of gravity.

Expedition 17 Commander Volkov and Expedition 16 Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko installed a temperature sensor switching unit as well as other hardware into the newly arrived Soyuz. Volkov also performed a Soyuz communications link check with Expedition 17 Flight Engineer Kononenko.

Expedition 16 Commander Whitson and Expedition 17 Flight Engineer Reisman participated in interviews with a New York radio program and a television station in Iowa. Whitson also performed some maintenance work on the U.S. spacesuits.

The next Soyuz launch by Starsem will lift off in less than two weeks, on April 27. It will deliver to orbit the Giove-B satellite for the European Space Agency.