Soyuz crew boards space station

Two Soyuz craft are now docked at the ISS

The new crew of the International Space Station (ISS) has boarded the orbiting platform to take up its tour of duty.

The Expedition 8 team consists of British-born astronaut Michael Foale and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri.

They were joined on the journey up to the ISS by the Spanish astronaut Pedro Duque, who will spend a week conducting a series of scientific experiments.

Duque will then return home with the outgoing Expedition 7 crew when it departs for planet Earth on 28 October.

Leak checks

The station's existing crew, US astronaut Ed Lu and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, greeted the newcomers with warm embraces.

We warmly welcome the new crew Ed Lu, US astronaut (2nd left)

"We are always happy to see guests, especially such wonderful ones," said Lu. "We warmly welcome the new crew."

The hatches were opened between the Soyuz "taxi" and the space station a few hours after docking, following leak checks in the tunnel connecting the two craft.

The process of docking, which usually occurs automatically, went very smoothly. "The vehicle was very soft and docked so well we didn't have to work at all," said Kaleri.

Evacuation craft

Michael Foale - who is now a US citizen - is making his sixth trip into space, having spent more than four months aboard the Russian space station Mir in 1997.

During the visit to the ISS, Foale will clock up more hours in space than any other US astronaut in history.

Profile: Michael Foale

This mission is the second time a Russian Soyuz has taken an American to the space station, since the Columbia disaster halted the US shuttle programme earlier this year.

The US space agency (Nasa) now depends on Russia to keep its astronauts flying.

The Russian Soyuz, which had the primary role to serve as an emergency evacuation craft for the station, is now the only ship capable of carrying crews to and from the space outpost.

The Soyuz that carried Expedition 8 will remain docked at the ISS for the duration of its mission, to act as a "lifeboat" should disaster strike.

The outgoing crew will return to Earth in a second Soyuz, which is already at the station.

Cosmic wedding

Ed Lu and Yuri Malenchenko will travel back to Earth in eight days' time, exactly six months after their mission began on 28 April.

They were the first crew to venture into space after the Columbia shuttle broke up during its re-entry into the atmosphere in February.

Expedition 8 left Earth on Saturday

Lu has been wearing the badge of his lost colleagues as a tribute.

Malenchenko will become the first person to leave Earth a bachelor and return a married man. He married his fiancée in August while still in orbit.

Duque is the sixth European astronaut to visit the ISS, and the first from Spain.

During his stay, he will carry out an extensive experiment programme - dubbed the Cervantes Mission - in the fields of life and physical sciences, Earth observation, education and technology.

This will include use of the Microgravity Science Glovebox, a research facility developed in Europe.

"A trip into space is not something you can do every day," said Duque.

"So, I am determined to use every moment to the fullest and perform the various experiments as proficiently as possible. I am proud to be representing almost 40 million Spanish citizens".