The Soyuz spacecraft, which was delayed due to a software glitch, is back on track to dock at the International Space Station around 8 p.m. tonight.
Carrying NASA astronaut Steven Swanson and Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev, the Russian spacecraft is scheduled to dock at 7:58 p.m. after completing a two-day, 34-orbit itinerary, NBC News reported.
The space travelers will join NASA's Rick Mastracchio, Japan's Koichi Wakata and Russia's Mikhail Tyurin, who are currently living on the ISS and are scheduled to return to Earth in May. Swanson, Skvortsov and Artemyev will remain in orbit on the ISS until September.
Officials are still investigating the software issue that caused the Soyuz to stop a planned 24-second engine burn. The spacecraft, which launched Tuesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, was supposed to complete its journey to the ISS in six hours after just four trips around the station.
According to NASA, the spacecraft was in the wrong position to complete the orbital maneuver when the engine burn was scheduled to happen, NBC News reported.
A mission to bring more supplies to the astronauts was also delayed this week. A robotic supply ship was supposed to travel to the space station on Sunday but was "postponed due to range asset issue," NASA said on Twitter.
Since the U.S. space shuttle fleet was retired in 2011, NASA has counted on the Russian spacecraft to send crews to the ISS. The American space agency is paying Russia nearly $71 million per seat to transport astronauts to the ISS through 2017, according to The Associated Press.
The collaboration seems to be running smoothly despite international tension in the wake of the Ukraine conflict.
The U.S. and Russia "partnership in space remains intact and normal," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said earlier this month, according to the AP.
NASA TV is scheduled to begin covering the Soyuz docking at 7 p.m. ET.
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