A crew of three astronauts and cosmonauts docked at the International Space Station on November 27, greeted by colleagues who had baked a cake to mark the occasion, TASS and Associated Press reported.

The Soyuz MS-28 capsule lifted off at 12:28pm Moscow time from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, carrying NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Russian cosmonauts Sergei Mikaev and Sergei Kud-Sverchkov. The spacecraft docked with the station's Rassvet module at 3:38pm Moscow time.

"We were looking forward to the arrival of Expedition 74 aboard Soyuz MS-28, and made a holiday cake for them," Alexei Zubritsky, a TASS correspondent stationed aboard the ISS, said.

The mission marks the first spaceflight for Williams, a physicist, and Mikaev, a military pilot. Kud-Sverchkov is making his second trip to orbit. The crew will spend 242 days at the orbital laboratory, returning to Earth in late July 2026.

The mission will include more than 40 scientific experiments and two spacewalks. The first extravehicular activity will focus on installing the Sun-Terahertz instrument designed to predict solar flares, while the second will involve maintenance on the Zarya module and replacement of worn components.

Williams will conduct research and technology demonstrations aimed at advancing human space exploration and benefiting life on Earth, NASA said.

The new arrivals join NASA astronauts Mike Fincke, Zena Cardman and Jonny Kim, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonauts Sergei Ryzhikov, Alexei Zubritsky and Oleg Platonov.