Astronauts from Russia, US reach International Space Station

MOSCOW - A US astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts arrived punctually at the International Space Station (ISS) Sunday, Russia’s mission control spokesman Valeri Lyndin said.

The Russian Soyuz spaceship carrying American Tracy Caldwell-Dyson, 40, and her Russian colleagues Mikhail Korniyenko, 49, and Alexander Skvortsov, 43, were launched in their Soyuz space capsule Friday from the Baikonur cosmodrone in Kazakhstan.

The crew are set to stay for six months and perform a number of scientific experiments before returning to Earth September 16.

The space shuttle Discovery is scheduled to take off Monday from Cape Canaveral, Florida with seven astronauts aboard. It is one of the last US missions to the ISS, as NASA plans to retire the shuttle fleet by the end of the year.

Russian space vehicles will take over the task of ferrying astronauts to and from the ISS.