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This story was updated at 11:26 p.m. EDT.

A Slavonic spacecraft direction the study of history's most famous cosmonaut cropped at the International Space Station late Wednesday  (April 6) to deliver threesome newborn crewmembers to the orbiting lab.

The Soyuz TMA-21 — nicknamed "Gagarin" after Yuri Gagarin, who became the prototypal mortal in expanse on Apr 12, 1961 — successfully cropped with the station's Poisk module at 7:09 p.m. EDT (2309 GMT). The spacecraft had launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakh on Apr 4, destructive soured from the aforementioned aggrandize utilised for Gagarin's past grace nearly 50 eld ago.

"Contact and capture — achievement confirmed," a NASA official declared as the "Gagarin" sidled up to the orbiting lab.   

The "Gagarin" launched into expanse weekday (April 4 EDT) carrying  two cosmonauts and digit NASA traveler to join threesome other crewmembers already aboard the station, misreckoning discover the orbiting lab's Expedition 27.

The threesome spaceflyers — NASA's Daffo Garan and Russians herb Samokutyaev and Andrey Borisenko — module also meet on as part of the incoming send mission, Expedition 28.

"It was a great pair of life and we're ready to intend to work," Garan said.

Garan and Samokutyaev module be grace engineers on both expeditions. Borisenko module help as a grace engineer on Expedition 27 and after help as the commander of Expedition 28. [Vote Now! The Best Spaceships of All Time]

The gathering received a flood of congratulatory calls from Russia's Mission Control edifice near Moscow after achievement at the expanse station. Slavonic expanse official and the families of the traveler and cosmonauts were on assistance to wish the gathering well.

"We fuck you," Garan's wife Carmel told her economise and his crewmates after their achievement on the station. "We'll keep the fires burning at home, and we'll recognize you bag with open arms at the modify of your successful mission."

Marking many milestones

All threesome spaceflyers — and the "Gagarin" — module meet at the expanse send until September, when they'll become back down to Earth. They'll therefore be aboard the orbiting impact for a program of big spaceflight anniversaries and milestones.

There's the 50th day of Gagarin's grace and the 30th day of the prototypal expanse shuttle flight. Both of those events occurred on Apr 12 - Gagarin's assignment in 1961 and the shuttle fleet's prototypal start 20 eld later, in 1981. The threesome newborn crewmembers module also be aloft for the 50th day of the prototypal American in expanse — Alan Shepard's grace of May 5, 1961.

They'll also effort farewell to NASA's expanse shuttle program from the orbiting lab. The expanse agency is unnoticeable the workhorse vehicles after this year after threesome decades of service. The terminal two shuttle flights — Endeavour's STS-134 assignment and Atlantis' STS-135 grace — are slated to start toward the send in Apr and June, respectively.

The threesome crewmembers already aboard the send — cosmonaut Dmitry Kondratyev, NASA traveler Cady Coleman and dweller spaceflyer Paolo Nespoli — hit been there since December. They're scheduled to convey to Earth incoming month.

Gagarin's past flight

Yuri Gagarin's 1961 grace was a significant conclusion for the state Union in its escalating expanse race with the United States. It opened wounds prototypal inflicted by the Soviets' surprise start of Sputnik 1 — the world's prototypal staged equipment — in October 1957. [The Top 10 state and Slavonic Science Missions]

Gagarin launched in a spherical Vostok 1 capsule, orbited Earth once, then landed safely in a Slavonic field 108 transactions later.

While Gagarin's study module springy forever in the history books, the man himself died tragically young. His form crashed during a expeditionary upbringing training in 1968, killing the cosmonaut at the geezerhood of 34.

You crapper study SPACE.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter: @michaeldwall. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in expanse science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

• Biggest Revelations of the Space Age
• The Top 10 state and Slavonic Science Missions
• Vote Now! The Best Spaceships of All Time

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