CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) – A fresh three-member crew arrived at the International Space Station on Tuesday, bolstering the two-man skeleton crew that has been keeping the outpost operational since December 1.

A Russian Soyuz capsule carrying cosmonaut Oleg Kotov, Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi and NASA rookie flier Timothy Creamer coasted into its berthing port at 5:48 p.m. EST (2248 GMT), as the station sailed 220 miles above Rio de Janeiro. The men were launched into space on Monday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The trio is expected to remain aboard the station until May.

"This is a really nice way to top off the year," said NASA's chief astronaut Peggy Whitson. "Currently onboard we only have two crew members, so I know they're looking forward to having company."

Welcoming the new crew was station commander Jeff Williams and flight engineer Maxim Suraev, both of whom have been in orbit since September 30.

NASA no longer flies station crew members on the shuttle. The agency is devoting its final five shuttle missions to station assembly and construction, and expects to retire its three-ship shuttle fleet in less than a year.

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