Soyuz MS-28 crew go aboard ISS

MOSCOW. Nov 27 (Interfax) - The crew of the Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft have boarded the International Space Station (ISS), Roscosmos showed in a broadcast.

The transfer hatch was opened after checking the air-tightness of the docking between the spacecraft and the ISS, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Kud-Sverchkov, Sergei Mikayev and NASA astronaut Chris Williams boarded the ISS.

The crew were met by Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Ryzhikov, Alexei Zubritsky and Oleg Platonov, NASA astronauts Zena Cardman, Jonathan Kim and Mike Finke, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Kimiya Yui.

A Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle took off from the 31st site of Baikonur Cosmodrome at 12:17 p.m. on Thursday. The spacecraft docked with the ISS at 3:34 p.m.

According to the plan, the crew will stay in orbit for 242 days. The expedition participants are expected to go on two spacewalks under the Russian program.