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Russia’s Soyuz spaceship docks to ISS

The spaceship is piloted by Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Samokutyayev

© EPA/YURI KOCHETKOV

BAIKONUR, September 26. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia’s Soyuz TMA-14M manned spaceship with an international crew of a long-duration expedition 41-42 has successfully docked to the International Space Station (ISS), a Baikonur spokesman told ITAR-TASS on Friday.

“The spaceship has “moored” to the docking unit of the Poisk module in an automated mode,” the spokesman said.

Spaceship’s faulty solar battery has finally unfolded, head of the Rissian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) Oleg Ostapenko said.

“According to preliminary information, the battery has unfolded,” he told journalists, adding that it had happened at 06:50 Moscow time.

The Soyuz TMA-14M spaceship was launched from the Baikonur space centre at 00:25 Moscow time.

The spaceship is piloted by Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Samokutyayev. He and his crew mates Yelena Serova and American astronaut Barry Wilmore will join Maksim Surayev, Gregory Wiseman, and Alexander Gerst, who have been workign aboard the ISS since May this year.

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