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An international trio of astronauts has just become the newest residents of a space station in orbit after a record-setting trip.

Five hours and 40 minutes after a successful Soyuz rocket launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan earlier today (May 28), Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, NASA's Karen Nyberg and Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency docked their Soyuz spacecraft at the International Space Station at 10:10 p.m. EDT (0210 May 29 GMT).

The new crew will remain on the space station for the next six months.

VIDEO: What Space Does to the Human Body

"I've never felt better in my life," Yurchikhin said just after the Soyuz docked at the station in record time while sailing high above the South Pacific.

Fast Track to Space

Monday's same-day launch and docking was the second express flight to the International Space Station by an astronaut crew.

Unmanned cargo vessels have made this kind of trip many times before, but the one-day missions are a new method of flying for manned Soyuz capsules. Typically, it takes astronauts about two days to reach the space station, but this kind of flying only requires the capsule to orbit the Earth four times, shortening the amount of time the astronauts need to spend in the cramped spaceship.

PHOTOS: An Awe-Inspiring Space Station Odyssey

The first Soyuz crew to fly to the station using this expedited technique greeted Nyberg, Parmitano and Yurchikhin once the capsule's hatch was opened last night. The three newest space station residents join NASA's Chris Cassidy and Russian cosmonauts Alexander Misurkin and Pavel Vinogradov to round out the Expedition 36 crew.

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New Space Station Crew Arrive in Record Time

An international trio of astronauts has just become the newest residents of a space station in orbit after a record-setting trip.

Five hours and 40 minutes after a successful Soyuz rocket launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan earlier today (May 28), Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, NASA's Karen Nyberg and Luca Parmitano of the International Space Stationdocked their Soyuz spacecraft at the orbiting laboratory at 10:10 p.m. EDT (0210 May 29 GMT). The new crew will remain on the space station for the next six months.

"I've never felt better in my life," Yurchikhin said just after the Soyuz docked at the station in record time while sailing high above the South Pacific.[See Photos from the Launch and Docking]

You can watch live coverage of the hatch opening on SPACE.com via NASA TV starting at 11:30 p.m. EDT (0330 May 29 GMT), with hatch opening scheduled for 11:55 p.m. EDT (0355 May 29 GMT).

Fast track to space

Monday's same-day launch and docking was the second express flight to the International Space Station by an astronaut crew.

Unmanned cargo vessels have made this kind of trip many times before, but the one-day missions are a new method of flying for manned Soyuz capsules. Typically, it takes astronauts about two days to reach the space station, but this kind of flying only requires the capsule to orbit the Earth four times, shortening the amount of time the astronauts need to spend in the cramped spaceship.

The first Soyuz crew to fly to the station using this expedited technique will greet Nyberg, Parmitano and Yurchikhin once the capsule's hatch is opened tonight. The three newest space station residents will join NASA's Chris Cassidy and Russian cosmonauts Alexander Misurkin and Pavel Vinogradov to round out the Expedition 36 crew.

"[Your trip was] even faster than Pavel," a member of Mission Control in Russia joked with Yurchikhin after docking. The Russian Soyuz commander beat Vinogradov's time to the station by six minutes.

A special group

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International Astronaut Crew Arrives at Space Station in Record Time

A Russian rocket carrying a trio of astronauts is on its way to the International Space Station.

NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg, European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin successfully launched aboard the Russian Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan toward the orbiting outpost today (May 28) at 4:31 p.m. EDT (2031 GMT). The local time was early Wednesday.

The three newest space station crewmembers are expected to arrive just six hours after launch, in the second ever one-day manned trip to the International Space Station. [See Photos of the Express Launch ]

"Soyuz blazing into the night sky over Kazakhstan," NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries said upon launch.

Yurchikhin, the commander of the Soyuz, chose a toy dog as the crew's mascot. The cosmonaut got the stuffed animal as a gift 30 years ago, and he brought it with him to space in 2010 as well. The Soyuz commander also brought toys given to him by his daughters into the capsule.

Speedy trip

The Soyuz crew is scheduled to arrive at the station's Rassvet module at 10:17 p.m. EDT (0217 May 29 GMT). You can watch live coverage of the docking on SPACE.com starting at 9:30 p.m. EDT (0130 May 29 GMT).

It usually takes about two days for a manned Soyuz spacecraft to reach the International Space Station, but this time, the astronauts will make only four orbits of the Earth before docking.

Although many unmanned cargo ships do these kinds of expedited docking procedures regularly, only one other Soyuz crew has flown to the space station using this method.

NASA's Chris Cassidy and Russian cosmonauts Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin the three astronauts currently living and working on the space station were the first crew to do the one-day launch and docking when they blasted off to the station in March.

Continued here:
Astronauts Launch to Space Station on Express Trip