A Supply Ship Docks with the International Space Station
			
		
		
			Credit: 
ISS Expedition 16 Crew, 
NASA
		
		
			Looking out a window of the International Space Station brings breathtaking views. 
Visible vistas include a vast and 
colorful Earth, a 
deep dark sky, and an occasional 
spaceship sent to visit the station. 
Visible early last month was a 
Soyuz 
TMA-12 spacecraft carrying not only supplies but also three newcomers.   
The three new astronauts were 
Expedition 17 commander Sergei Volkov, 
flight engineer Oleg Kononenko, and spaceflight participant 
So-yeon Yi.  
Yi returned to Earth 
a few days later, while Volkov and Konenenko are scheduled to return in a few months.   
The docking module 
pictured above involved the 
Pirs 
Docking Compartment.   
The Expedition 17 crew, including NASA flight engineer 
 Gregory 
Chamitoff, will carry out repairs on the 
ISS, explore new methods of living in space, 
and conduct research in space including the effects of 
space radiation on 
vitamin molecules.