MOSCOW, March 20 (Xinhua) -- The Soyuz manned spacecraft with the crew of the 12th main expedition has been successfully docked to the International Space Station (ISS) after an orbital flight on Monday, the Mission Control Center said.

    "Russian cosmonaut Valery Tokarev in a manual regime docked the Soyuz TMA-7 spacecraft to the Zvezda service module at 10:11(0711 GMT), Moscow time, Monday," Valery Lyndin, spokesman for the Mission Control Center outside Moscow was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

    The Soyuz TMA-7 spaceship steered by Russian cosmonaut Valery Tokarev detached from the Zarya functional-cargo bay at 09:49(0649GMT), Moscow time.

    NASA astronaut William McArthur helped to control the operation of the spacecraft systems.

    "The re-docking maneuver has passed in a normal mode," Lyndin said.

    The maneuver is part of the preparations for the next manned Russian spaceship, the Soyuz TMA-8, which is scheduled to blast off on March 30. It is scheduled to dock at the Zarya functional-cargo bay.

    The Soyuz TMA-8 is to deliver to ISS Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov, U.S. astronaut Jeffrey Williams and Brazilian astronaut Markus Pontez, who will briefly visit the orbiting lab.

    Vinogradov and Williams will replace Russian cosmonaut Valery Tokarev and U.S. astronaut William McArthur, who have been working on the station since October. Enditem