Three men on board the historical Soyuz flight have successfully docked at the International Space Station, cutting the journey time by a cosmic leap. The hatch is scheduled to open within the next few hours.

Russian cosmonauts Alexander Misurkin, Pavel Vinogradov and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy have arrived at the station in just six hours compared to the usual two-day voyage, after they launched at 16:43 EDT from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.