Soyuz TMA-20 Docks with ISS - December 17, 2010

Soyuz spacecraft docked to the Rassvet  Module

The Soyuz TMA-20 with three person crew including NASA's Cady Coleman, Russian Dmitry Kondratyev and Italian Paolo Nespoli docked with the Rassvet module of the ISS at 20:11 UT on 17-December-2010. The docking occurred over western Africa at an altitude of 386 km. The Soyuz docking probe then retracted to allow hooks and latches to bring the spacecraft to a firm seal with the station. The three new Expedition 26 residents join station commander Scott Kelly, Alexander Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka.


The Soyuz completed a roll maneuver and a station flyaround before aligning with the docking port and energuzed its headlight headlight to illuminate the docking module. The docking was live on NASA-TV with images provided by a monochrome camera of the automatic docking. The automated docking system is a radar-based system  to maneuver towards the station for docking.  

Docking alignment

Closing in

Very close

Docked

Final ISS configuration

SOYUZ TMA-20 Mission Patch

SOYUZ TMA-20 crew:
Catherine Coleman, NASA
Dmitri Kondratyev, Roscosmos
Paolo Nespoli, ESA

References:

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_TMA-20

http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/488923main_exp25_26_press_kit.pdf