Bread, chocolate and bear hugs greeted the newest visitorsto the International Space Station (ISS) after the smooth docking of the ninthexpedition to the orbital outpost.

The successful arrival of ISS Expedition 9 ended with twoenthusiastic crews aboard the space station and a total population of fivehumans in orbit.

Expedition 9 commander and veteran cosmonaut GennadyPadalka watched over his Soyuz TMA-4 spacecraft as it eased into a docking porton the Earth-facing side of the Zarya Control Module of the ISS. Thespacecrafts 1:01 a.m. EDT (0501 GMT) arrival was two full minutes early,though it would be an hour later before Padalka and his fellow Soyuzcrewmembers floated into the ISS.

You look great Michael, Padalka told Michael Foale,commander of Expedition 8 already aboard ISS, as the Soyuz craft approached thespace station.

The Expedition 9 crew will relieve Foale and his Russiancounterpart Alexander Kaleri, who have been living aboard the ISS since October2003.

The flawless docking procedure capped a two-day game ofspace station catch up for Padalka, NASA ISS science officer Michael Fincke andDutch astronaut Andre Kuipers of the European Space Agency (ESA). During those48 hours, their Soyuz craft went through a series of computer-controlled engineburns that gradually kicked up into an orbit where it could meet the spacestation.

I thank the Russian space agency again for an excellentlaunch, an excellent ride and an excellent docking, said NASA DeputyAdministrator Fred Gregory, who was on hand at ISS mission control in Korolev,Russia, just outside of Moscow.

With the dock complete, the long-term Expedition 9 crew ofPadalka and Fincke will now power down their Soyuz TMA-4 spacecraft and leaveit for the duration of the six-months they will live onboard the station.

But Kuipers, who was the first of the new ISS residents toboard the station, went straight to work setting up science experiments.

Its fantastic to have been launched into space, Kuiperstold Russias mission control after entering the space station, adding that theentire ride went according to plan. Its as if we were still doing thetraining, everything went perfectly.

A Dutch medical doctor and Netherlands astronaut, Kuipershas nine days to conduct life science experiments for ESA before he departswith Foale and Kaleri on April 29.

Later today, the crew of Expedition 8 will hold an emergencyprocedures and evacuation walkthrough to bring Expedition 9 and Kuipers up tospeed on the contingency plans aboard the ISS. Kuipers will also have to movehis custom-made seat lining from the Expedition 9 Soyuz to Expedition 8, lesthe experience an uncomfortable return to Earth next week.

The crew of Expedition 9 is eager to get underway with theirbusy mission. In addition to a packed schedule of station keeping and scienceexperiments, Padalka and Fincke expect to conduct two spacewalks to performmaintenance and modifications to the ISS exterior. They also expect to handleat least two Progress supply ships during their tenure aboard the station. The Expedition 8 crew conducted onespacewalk and received one Progress flight during their mission.

While Padalka is a seasoned long duration flight, chalkingup almost 200 days aboard Mir in 1999, Expedition 9 marks Finckes first flightinto space and he bore a wide smile on his face throughout the docking andentry into the ISS.

After completing todays scheduled activities, all five ISScrewmembers were scheduled to catch about nine hours of sleep starting at 2:30p.m. EDT (1830 GMT).