New Crew Welcomed Aboard the Space Station

By Nancy Atkinson - July 17, 2012 at 1:53 PM UTC | Space Exploration

On the 37th anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz docking, a new international crew of three arrived at the International Space Station. Veteran Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, NASA astronaut Suni Williams, and JAXA astronaut Aki Hoshide and joined their Expedition 32 crewmates early Tuesday, bringing the crew compliment on the station back to six.

Williams compared the Soyuz flight to camping and being on the ISS like a coming to a nice hotel.

The video shows the crew already on board, Commander Gennady Padalka, Sergei Revin,and Joe Acaba, welcoming the new crew aboard. Then, from Mission Control in Moscow, officials from the various space agencies and family members sent their good wishes. It was charming to see Malenchenko's young daughter Camilla waving wildly at the big screen as she saw her father (she sobbed mightily the day her father had to go into quarantine.) Malenchenko demonstrated for his daughter how he could float upside down, and she told him he looked like a monkey.

The next big event for the crew is the arrival of the Japanese HTV cargo vehicle, dubbed the Kounotori 3, scheduled to launch on 21 July 2012 to bring supplies to the station.

Padalka, Acaba and Revin will be on board until September 17th, and the newest crew will stay until November 12, 2012.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com