A Soyuz-FG rocket booster with Soyuz TMA-17 space ship, carrying a new crew to the international space station (ISS), lifts off from the Russian leased Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Monday, Dec. 21, 2009. The Soyuz TMA-17's three astronauts will take the orbiting laboratory's permanent crew to five following the early-hours launch, the first-ever blastoff of a Soyuz rocket on a winter night.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    MOSCOW, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- A Russian spaceship carrying three astronauts successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) early Wednesday, the Mission Control Center outside Moscow said.

    The 22nd ISS mission on board the Soyuz TMA-17 spaceship, consisting of Russian Oleg Kotov, NASA's Timothy Creamer and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi, will join Maxim Surayev and Jeffrey Williams already working at the space station.

    After two days of flight, the spaceship docked with the ISS in an automatic mode at 01:48 Moscow time (2248 GMT Tuesday), said Valery Lyndin, spokesman for the Mission Control.

    The three astronauts were scheduled to open the hatch and enter the space station at around 03:40 Moscow time (0040 GMT) after checking on airtight conditions and pressures of the sealed cabin.

    A Soyuz-FG rocket carrying the Soyuz TMA-17 spaceship lifted off at 00:52 Moscow time Monday (2152 GMT Sunday) from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan.

    During their 161 days in space, the crew members will complete several docking tasks, including those of two Russian freighters and three U.S. space shuttles, as well as conducting 48 scientific experiments and one space walk.

    Meanwhile, a Russian MIM-1 small research module called "Rassvet" (Dawn), which will be sent to the ISS by a U.S. space shuttle in May 2010, is also set to be docked to the ISS during the mission.

    The 7.9-ton "Rassvet" module will be used to conduct a series of scientific experiments, especially those of biotechnology and material science. It can also be used to deposit experiment equipment.

    Kotov, commander of the 22nd expedition mission, said they would bring new year gifts and a Christmas tree to the space station.

    Noguchi said he would make fresh sushi at the ISS. Creamer, a space "novice," has planned to keep on "twittering" about this journey from the cosmos.

Service towers move away from the Russian Soyuz TMA-17 spacecraft, with the International Space Station (ISS) crew of U.S. astronaut Timothy J. Creamer, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi, at the Baikonur cosmodrome a few minutes before blast off December 21, 2009. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>