KOROLYOV (Moscow region), October 1, (RIA Novosti) - The Soyuz TMA-7 manned spacecraft separated from its carrier vehicle and headed for the International Space Station (ISS) at 08:04 a.m. Moscow time (4:04 a.m. GMT) Saturday, a spokesman for Russian Mission Control said.
"The crew are in good physical condition, communication is stable and all systems are working normally after the separation from the carrier rocket," the spokesman said.
On October 3, the Soyuz TMA-7 is scheduled to dock with the ISS,after which the main crew will have spent 182 days in space. The ninth crew arrived eight days ago.
At the first stage, the new crew will dock with the ISS and relieve the ISS-11 crew.
At the second stage, the crew will undock the ISS and the Soyuz TMA-6 from the ISS-11 crew and the third space tourist on board.
The third stage of the expedition, carried out by the main crew of astronaut McArthur and cosmonaut Valery Tokarev, includes the Soyuz TMA-7's redocking with the Functional Cargo Block (FCB), operations with three transport cargo ships -- Progress M-54, M-55, and M-56, and docking with the shuttle, should its flights be resumed.
The crew will also make two spacewalks with the ISS and begin technical maintenance and servicing of ISS systems.
Tokarev and McArthur will replenish the station's supplies, carry out research projects and experiments, dock the Soyuz TMA-8 with the ISS-13, embark on a joint flight with the ISS-13 and then return to earth aboard the Soyuz TMA-7.
The 12th expedition crew will conduct 46 experiments aboard the ISS, 38 of which were started on previous expeditions. Eight new experiments will be conducted under the 12th crew.
