Russian, US crew safely dock with space station

Three astronauts in Russia's Soyuz spacecraft safely docked with the International Space Station on Wednesday, to the relief of agencies who had feared they might have to leave the orbiting base empty for the first time in a decade.

According to Reuters, Moscow hopes the smooth flight – the first since NASA retired its space shuttles this summer – will restore faith in its space programme after the crash of a freight ship and a series of botched launches.

The NASA shutdown means Russian spaceships are the only way to ferry goods and crews to the $100-billion space station, backed by 16 nations.

Ground support teams had scrambled to draw up plans to leave the orbital station unmanned should the Soyuz flight have problems.

The Soyuz TMA-22 crew linked up minutes ahead of schedule at 0524 GMT with the space station suspended 248 miles (399km) above the Pacific Ocean after a cramped, two-day journey from Russia's Baikonur launch pad in Kazakhstan.

Veteran NASA astronaut Daniel Burbank, 50, is taking over command of the station, while cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov, 39, and Anatoly Ivanishin, 42, made their maiden space voyage.

"We are doing great, there were no problems whatsoever. We are now flying over Australia. The view is breathtaking," Shkaplerov said in a video link with his family at Mission Control in Moscow.