ISS Crew Greets Replacement

Expedition Five Commander Valery Korzun, Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev and NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson welcomed their replacements onto the International Space Station today. The Expedition Six crew — Commander Ken Bowersox, Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin and NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit — arrived on Space Shuttle Endeavour, which docked with the station at 3:59 p.m. CST (2159 GMT). The hatches between the two vehicles were opened for the first time and the crews greeted each other at 5:31 p.m. CST (2331 GMT).

The Expedition Five and Six crews will begin handover activities following a safety briefing by Korzun this evening. The crews will begin swapping out the custom-made seatliners in the Soyuz spacecraft that serves as the station’s crew return vehicle. Once the swap-out is completed, the Expedition Six crew will take command of the station and Expedition Five will become a part of Endeavour’s crew. During the remainder of STS-113’s weeklong stay, the Expedition crews will conduct handover activities and the station will continue its outward expansion with the addition of the P1 (P-One) Truss.