A few hours ago, three new crew members arrived to the International Space Station on a Soyuz spacecraft. In the past, the spacships traveled on a track that led to the rendezvous with the Station two days after launch but this launch has inaugurated a new fast-track for a crew transport.

Last year three Progress spacecraft carrying only cargo used a track that brought them to the Station in just 6 hours. The Russian Space Agency decided that the experiment is a success and decided it was safe to use that fast-track for manned trips as well.

The three new members of the crew of the International Space Station, who are part of Expedition 35, are three flight engineers:

Pavel Vladimirovich Vinogradov. Born on August 31, 1953 in Magadan, in the then USSR, he worked for years as an aerospace engineer. In 1992 he joined the Russian space program and in 1997 was assigned to the Mir space station. After having worked for 198 days as a member of the Mir crew, also performing some “space walks”, he returned to Earth. In 2006, Vinogradov has already been to the International Space Station as part of the Expedition 13 crew.

Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Misurkin. Born on September 23, 1977 in Yershichi, in the then USSR, he’s been a pilot and flight instructor in the Russian Air Force. In 2006, he joined the Russian space program and is at his first spaceflight.

Christopher Cassidy. Born on January 4, 1970 in Salem, Massachusetts, USA, has been a Navy SEAL for ten years. During this time he also served in Afghanistan. In 2004 he was selected by NASA and in 2009 was part of the Space Shuttle Endeavour crew during mission STS-127. Cassidy made three “space walks” to complete the installation of the components of the International Space Station’s Kibo Japanese Experiment Module.

According to the plans, Vinogradov, Misurkin and Cassidy will return to Earth in September 2013 and in the nearly six months they’ll spend on the International Space Station they’ll participate in its maintenance, also with some space walks, and various scientific experiments.

[ad name=”Google Adsense 468″]