International Space Station occupancy temporarily surged to nine people on Nov. 7, with the launch and docking of the Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft. Onboard was a crew of three, including veteran aerospace engineer Koichi Wakata, who is slated to become the first Japanese commander of the orbiting science lab in March. It was the first time since the space shuttle Atlantis departed at the end of the STS-135 mission in 2011 that so many people have been aboard the ISS. TMA-11M lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Nov. 6, at 11:14 p.m. EST (10:14 a.m. Nov. 7, local time) and arrived four orbits and 6 hr. later as the latest Soyuz crew to reach the station on an "express" trajectory.
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