Through the hatch

Marcos Pontes was first through the hatch and got handshakes and hugs from Bill McArthur and Valery Tokarev. He was followed by Pavel Vinogradov and Jeff Williams. The new guys went one way and were called back to float the other way so the crews can have their meet-and-greet, on-camera event with the VIPs in Russia's mission control center in Korolev, north of Moscow. Pontes was pushing an undulating Brazilian flag ahead of him and was all grins, obviously enjoying his first space flight.