A bird flies in front of the trail of the Soyuz-FG rocket booster with Soyuz MS-09 space ship, carrying a new crew to the International Space Station, ISS, as it blasts off at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, June 6, 2018. The Russian rocket carries U.S. astronaut Serena Aunon-Chancellor, Russian cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev, and German astronaut Alexander Gerst. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

A Russian space capsule carrying three astronauts has docked with the International Space Station two days after it was launched from Kazakhstan.

The Soyuz capsule docked with the station at 13:01 GMT Friday some 255 miles (410 kilometers) above the Earth. It is carrying Serena Aunon-Chancellor of the United States, Sergey Prokopyev of Russia and German Alexander Gerst, flying for the European Space Agency.

They will join Americans Drew Feustel and Ricky Arnold and Russia's Oleg Artemyev at the station.

The program for their six-month mission includes about 250 experiments in biology, earth sciences, physical sciences and other disciplines.

The Soyuz blasted off on Wednesday from Russia's manned space launch complex in Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

A police APC drives past the launch pad prior the launch of Soyuz MS-09 space ship with U.S. astronaut Serena Aunon-Chancellor, Russian cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev and German astronaut Alexander Gerst, to the International Space Station (ISS) prior the launch at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, June 6, 2018. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

In this image released by NASA, the Soyuz-FG rocket booster with Soyuz MS-09 space ship carrying a new crew to the International Space Station, ISS, blasts off at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, June 6, 2018. The Russian rocket carries U.S. astronaut Serena Aunon-Chancellor, Russian cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev, and German astronaut Alexander Gerst. (Joel Kowsky/NASA via AP)

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