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Wearing a Santa hat and carrying a small Christmas tree, cosmonaut Oleg Kotov has been welcomed aboard the station. Following behind was Soichi Noguchi holding a sack of gifts and T.J. Creamer sporting an elf hat and shoes.

The hatchway between the Soyuz spacecraft and the station has been opened at 7:30 p.m. EST to allow the new crew to float into the complex.

Awaiting the completion of tests and hatch opening.

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying a crew of three docked with the International Space Station Tuesday after a two-day orbital chase.

With commander Oleg Kotov monitoring a problem-free automated approach to the huge lab complex, the Soyuz TMA-17 spacecraft docked at an Earth-facing port on the Russian Zarya module at 5:48 p.m. EST.

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The docking probe on the front of Soyuz has retracted, allowing the hooks and latches to close and form a seal between the capsule and station. Pressure and leak checks will be performed over the next orbit before the hatchway is opened for the crew to enter into the station later this evening.

The docking occurred as the space station flew just off the coast of Rio de Janeiro at an altitude of 220 miles, Mission Control says.

Over the next few minutes, the Soyuz docking probe will retract to allow hooks and latches to bring the spacecraft to a firm seal with the station. Hatches between the two vehicles will be opened around 7:30 p.m. EST.

DOCKING. The Soyuz TMA-17 spacecraft has docked to the Zarya module of the space station, delivering Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov, American astronaut T.J. Creamer and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi to the international outpost.

The new Expedition 22 residents join commander Jeff Williams and flight engineer Maxim Suraev. They have been aboard the station since the beginning of October.

A steady, stable approach continues.

The capsule remains on course and lined up for docking.

The Soyuz and station are nearing an orbital sunset.

About 150 feet left to go.

About 200 feet now separate the Soyuz and the station.

Less than 300 feet to docking.

All looks good and the final approach has commenced ahead of schedule.

The Soyuz has completed a flyaround maneuver to align with the docking port. It's now in the stationkeeping hold about 550 feet away while controllers verify all is in readiness for final approach.

The capsule is completing a roll maneuver as part of the sequence to prepare for docking.

Soyuz is maneuvering itself around the international outpost to get into the approach corridor leading to the Zarya module docking port.

The Soyuz spacecraft is nearing the space station for docking a little more than 20 minutes from now at 5:54 p.m. EST. You can watch live NASA Television coverage on the right-hand column of this page.

The Soyuz spacecraft carrying three new residents for the space station is scheduled for docking today.

The automated rendezvous sequence aboard the Russian-built crew transport capsule will begin about 3:30 p.m. EST to control the afternoon's activities via autopilot. Soyuz commander Oleg Kotov will be standing by to take over manual flying of the spacecraft if required.

The day's first key engine firing is planned for 3:52 p.m. and another impulse is expected around 4:14 p.m. EST, followed within minutes by activation of the Kurs rendezvous equipment on both the Soyuz and space station to guide the linkup.

The two spacecraft should be within 60 miles of each other by 4:40 p.m., closing to less than 10 miles by 5:02 p.m.

The television camera on the nose of Soyuz will be turned on at 5:09 p.m. to provide views of the docking.

A series of maneuvers between 5:16 and 5:24 p.m. will dramatically slow the Soyuz's closure rate, ultimately leading to the spacecraft beginning a flyaround of the space station to align with the Zarya module's Earth-facing docking port.

After a stationkeeping hold by the Soyuz to ensure all is in readiness for docking, the spacecraft will commence final approach at 5:45 p.m. for docking about 9 minutes later.

The linkup should occur at 5:54 p.m. EST, a few minutes after orbital sunset.

Watch this page for live coverage starting at 5:30 p.m. EST.

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying three fresh crew members bound for the International Space Station blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan early Monday local time, lighting up a cold, pre-dawn sky with a torrent of flame visible for miles around.

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Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO: FULL EXPERIENCE FROM LIFTOFF TO ORBIT PLAY
VIDEO: CREW DEPARTS SITE 254 FOR LAUNCH PAD PLAY
VIDEO: VIPS MEET THE CREW ON LAUNCH MORNING PLAY
VIDEO: CREW MEMBERS DON THEIR SOKOL SPACESUITS PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH MORNING TRADITIONS AT CREW QUARTERS PLAY
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To recap, it was an on time and on target flight by the Soyuz vehicle today, launching at 2152 GMT in the bone-chilling December weather of Baikonur. The spacecraft reached orbit as planned 9 minutes later.

The crew has been given permission from Mission Control-Moscow to open their helmet visors and loosen the shoulder restraints.

Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov, a doctor specializing in space medicine, American astronaut T.J. Creamer, an Army helicopter pilot with degrees in chemistry and physics, and Soichi Noguchi, an engineer and veteran astronaut from the Japanese space agency, have arrived in orbit following launch aboard the Soyuz TMA-17 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

A pair of maneuvers later today and another one Monday will adjust the capsule's trajectory to set up for Tuesday's rendezvous and docking with the space station.

The craft is completing a programmed sequence to deploy the power-generating solar arrays, as well as antennas for navigational and communication systems.

T+plus 9 minutes. CAPSULE SEPARATION! The Soyuz spacecraft is flying free after the upper stage finished its engine firing and then separated away. The capsule is in pursuit of the International Space Station for a planned docking around 5:54 p.m. EST on Tuesday.

T+plus 8 minutes. About a minute remains in the propulsion by the upper stage. The motor consumes kerosene and liquid oxygen just like the Soyuz rocket's other powerplants.

T+plus 7 minutes. The crew reports all remains normal aboard the spacecraft as the four-nozzle engine of the upper stage continues to burn.

T+plus 6 minutes. Soyuz's upper stage is firing to propel the spacecraft into a stable orbit around Earth.

T+plus 5 minutes. The core stage of the Soyuz rocket has shut down and separated, leaving the upper stage to complete the job of injecting the Soyuz capsule into orbit.

T+plus 4 minutes. The core motor continues to fire on its propellant mixture of kerosene fuel and supercold liquid oxygen.

T+plus 3 minutes. The safety escape tower and launch shroud have been jettisoned from the atop the Soyuz capsule.

T+plus 2 minutes, 15 seconds. The four strap-on boosters clustered around the Soyuz rocket's main stage have burned out and separated. The core motor continues to fire.

T+plus 60 seconds. Good performance one minute into this ascent for the Soyuz rocket and its three-person crew from the Kazakh launch base. Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi is strapped into the left-hand seat, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov is in the center seat for his role as the Soyuz commander and NASA astronaut T.J. Creamer is in the right-hand seat.

T+plus 30 seconds. The Soyuz is heading on course for a rendezvous with the space station 49 hours from now. The station currently is flying 224 miles above the Pacific Ocean off the southern tip of South America.

LIFTOFF! Liftoff of the Soyuz rocket with another crew for the International Space Station, building upon this decade's continuous human presence in orbit.

T-minus 25 seconds. The first umbilical arm has separated from Soyuz. The second will retract in the next few seconds.

T-minus 1 minute and counting. The Soyuz has been placed on internal power.

T-minus 2 minutes and counting. Rocket propellant tank pressurization is underway. The vehicle's onboard measurement system is activated. Oxidizer and fuel drain and safety valves of the launch vehicle have been closed.

T-minus 3 minutes and counting. The nitrogen purge of the combustion chambers of side and central engine pods of the rocket is being performed in preparation for ignition.

T-minus 4 minutes. The launch key has been inserted in the bunker for liftoff.

T-minus 5 minutes and counting. Systems of the Soyuz have switched to onboard control, the ground measurement system and the Soyuz commander's controls are being activated.

T-minus 6 minutes. The automatic program for final launch operations is being initiated.

T-minus 9 minutes and counting. The crew has closed its helmet visors.

T-minus 10 minutes. The crew inside the Soyuz capsule are starting recorders to collect data during launch.

T-minus 14 minutes and counting. The Soyuz telemetry systems are being activated. They will relay real-time data back to Earth during today's launch.

T-minus 17 minutes. At this point in the countdown, realignment of the Soyuz rocket's trajectory control system and checks of internal batteries should be complete. The Soyuz telemetry system will soon be activated and monitoring of Soyuz's thermal control system also will begin.

T-minus 20 minutes and counting. The three-stage Soyuz rocket will insert the 15,800-pound space capsule into a 143 by 118 mile orbit, inclined 51.6 degrees to the equator.

T-minus 25 minutes. The crew is completing leak checks of their Sokol launch spacesuits at this point in the countdown.

T-minus 27 minutes. Retraction of the two-piece service structure that has enclosed the Soyuz rocket during its stay at the launch pad is occurring as the towers rotate to a horizontal position. Several other umbilical arms connecting the rocket to the ground will be retracted at various times later in the countdown.

T-minus 45 minutes and counting. Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov, American astronaut T.J. Creamer and Soichi Noguchi of the Japanese space agency were awakened about eight hours ago to begin launch day activities. They signed the doors at crew quarters and received religious blessings before boarding a bus that took the three crewmates the 25-mile distance into the cosmodrome. They donned their white Sokol launch and entry suits, met with officials from their respective space agencies and then headed for the pad. Crowds of well-wishers gathered to wave goodbye as the crew reached the rocket. An elevator took the trio up to the capsule-level of the tower to begin climbing aboard the cramped spacecraft.

T-minus 90 minutes and counting. The Soyuz rocket is fueled, the crew has traveled to the launch pad and the countdown is progressing toward liftoff of the space station's Expedition 22 crew from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

A Russian doctor, an American helicopter pilot and a Japanese engineer will launch into orbit Sunday inside a Soyuz capsule bound for a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station.

Liftoff from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan is scheduled for 4:52 p.m. EST (2152 GMT), beginning a 9-minute ascent to orbit for the three-stage liquid-fueled booster.

The Soyuz rocket made a frigid rollout from its hangar to the launch pad on Friday. Mounted horizontally on a railcar, the rocket journeyed along a winding route from the integration facility at Site 254.

Hydraulic pistons lifted the rocket upright on the pad and gantry swing arms moved into position to enclose the vehicle. Technicians on four levels hooked up electrical and telemetry cables between the rocket and pad.

Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO: BIOS OF KOTOV, CREAMER AND NOGUCHI PLAY
VIDEO: PREVIEW OF NEXT SIX MONTHS AT SPACE STATION PLAY
VIDEO: POST-ROLLOUT COMMENTS FROM NASA OFFICIALS PLAY
VIDEO: SOYUZ ROCKET ROLLED TO BAIKONUR LAUNCH PAD PLAY
VIDEO: HIGHLIGHTS OF CREW'S ACTIVITIES AT BAIKONUR PLAY
VIDEO: CELEBRATIONS MARK CREW'S DEPARTURE FROM STAR CITY PLAY
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Following launch from historic Baikonur, it will take two days for the Soyuz TMA-17 capsule to the reach station. Docking to the Zarya module's nadir port is expected Tuesday around 5:54 p.m. EST (2254 GMT).

The linkup will deliver Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov, American astronaut T.J. Creamer and Soichi Noguchi of the Japanese space agency to the orbiting station. They will join the outpost's current two-man crew of commander Jeff Williams, a veteran shuttle and space station astronaut, and flight engineer Maxim Suraev, a Russian air force colonel.

Kotov was born in Simferopol and finished high school in Moscow before attended the Kirov Military Medical Academy. The 44-year-old cosmonaut is a colonel in the Russian air force and a specialist in space medicine. He flew aboard the Expedition 15 mission in 2007.

Creamer, 50, was raised in a military family and lived in 23 places on his way to the astronaut corps in Houston. A colonel in the Army where he flew helicopters, he later earned a master's degree in physics from MIT and then taught at West Point. This will be his first space mission.

Noguchi represents the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and will be flying in space for the second time. The 44-year-old, who holds degrees in aeronautical engineering from the University of Tokyo, previous flew on the first space shuttle mission after the Columbia accident, serving on the spacewalker team that tested heat shield repair techniques.

In the next few months, the station's five-man crew will oversee outfitting and final activation of the new Russian docking module called Poisk and arrival of the Tranquility module with its attached seven-windowed cupola.

Here is an overview the key events in Sunday's launch countdown, as provided by NASA:

• T- 6:00:00 Batteries are installed in the booster
  
  
• T- 5:30:00 State commission gives "go" to take launch vehicle
  
  
• T- 5:15:00 Crew arrives at site 254
  
  
• T- 5:00:00 Tanking begins
  
  
• T- 4:20:00 Spacesuit donning
  
  
• T- 4:00:00 Booster is loaded with liquid oxygen
  
  
• T- 3:40:00 Crew meets delegations
  
  
• T- 3:10:00 Reports to the State commission
  
  
• T- 3:05:00 Transfer to the launch pad
  
  
• T- 3:00:00 Vehicle first and second stage oxidizer fueling complete
  
  
• T- 2:35:00 Crew arrives at launch vehicle
  
  
• T- 2:30:00 Crew ingress through orbital module side hatch
  
  
• T- 2:00:00 Crew in re-entry vehicle
  
  
• T- 1:45:00 Re-entry vehicle hardware tested; suits are ventilated
  
  
• T- 1:30:00 Launch command monitoring and supply unit prepared;
  -- Orbital compartment hatch tested for sealing
  
  
• T- 1:00:00 Launch vehicle control system prepared for use; gyro instruments activated
  
  
• T- :45:00 Launch pad service structure halves are lowered
  
  
• T- :40:00 Re-entry vehicle hardware testing complete; leak checks performed on suits
  
  
• T- :30:00 Emergency escape system armed; launch command supply unit activated
  
  
• T- :25:00 Service towers withdrawn
  
  
• T- :15:00 Suit leak tests complete; crew engages personal escape hardware auto mode
  
  
• T- :10:00 Launch gyro instruments uncaged; crew activates on-board recorders
  
  
• T- 7:00 All prelaunch operations are complete
  
  
• T- 6:15 Key to launch command given at the launch site;
  -- Automatic program of final launch operations is activated
  
  
• T- 6:00 All launch complex and vehicle systems ready for launch
  
  
• T- 5:00 Onboard systems switched to onboard control;
  -- Ground measurement system activated by RUN 1 command;
  -- Commander's controls activated;
  -- Crew switches to suit air by closing helmets;
  -- Launch key inserted in launch bunker
  
  
• T- 3:15 Combustion chambers of side and central engine pods purged with nitrogen
  
  
• T- 2:30 Booster propellant tank pressurization starts;
  -- Onboard measurement system activated by RUN 2 command;
  -- Prelaunch pressurization of all tanks with nitrogen begins
  
  
• T- 2:15 Oxidizer and fuel drain and safety valves of launch vehicle are closed;
  -- Ground filling of oxidizer and nitrogen to the launch vehicle is terminated
  
  
• T- 1:00 Vehicle on internal power;
  -- Automatic sequencer on;
  -- First umbilical tower separates from booster
  
  
• T- :40 Ground power supply umbilical to third stage is disconnected
  
  
• T- :20 Launch command given at the launch position;
  -- Central and side pod engines are turned on
  
  
• T- :15 Second umbilical tower separates from booster
  
  
• T- :10 Engine turbopumps at flight speed
  
  
• T- :05 First stage engines at maximum thrust
  
  
• T- :00 Fueling tower separates;
  -- Lift off

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