The International Space Station just got a little more crowded.
Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen, Russian cosmonaut Sergey Volkov and Kazakh cosmonaut Aidyn Aimbetov docked at the Space Station in their Russian-made Soyuz spacecraft at 3:39 a.m. ET Friday, bringing the total number of people on the orbiting outpost up to nine. The crew were making final checks before opening the hatch.
The station hasn't played host to nine people since November 2013, NASA said.
Docking confirmed at 07:39 GMT. The @Space_Station has 3 new crewmembers including @Astro_Andreas. #iriss pic.twitter.com/yD2E1ZjYTn— ESA Operations (@esaoperations) September 4, 2015
Mogensen, Volkov and Aimbetov took about two days to get up to the station after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Wednesday, but Mogensen and Aimbetov will only be on the station for a short time.
#Soyuz lines up with Poisk module and begins final approach ~150 meters away from @Space_Station. pic.twitter.com/7gDEKVT4A7— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) September 4, 2015
The two crewmembers and cosmonaut Gennady Padalka -- who has been on the station for about six months -- are scheduled to fly back to Earth after about eight days. While that is much shorter than the usual half-year Space Station mission, it's going to be a pretty packed flight for the two first-time spaceflyers.
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"Andreas will control three rovers from space in two experiments, hunt elusive sprites during thunderstorms, purify water with a new nanotechnology membrane that mimics cells found in every living being on Earth, wear a tailor-made SkinSuit to alleviate back problems and use a mobile headset that allows ground control to look over his shoulder as he works," the European Space Agency said in a statement.
Mogensen -- the first Danish astronaut -- will also be taking part in a Lego education initiative in partnership with the European Space Agency. The astronaut has more than 20 Lego figures on the station that should help him take part in various outreach plans, including videos, for people back on Earth.
Mogensen, Volkov and Aimbetov will join Padalka, NASA astronauts Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui, and cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Oleg Kononenko on the station.
Kornienko and Kelly are just about halfway done with their yearlong mission on the Space Station. The two crewmembers and Volkov are scheduled to fly back home to Earth in March 2016 after a year in space.