Credit: NASA

After a textbook launch and docking on Sunday night, ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, NASA astronaut Terry Virts and Roscosmos commander Anton Shkaplerov boarded the International Space Station.

This image taken by Terry of Samantha was Samantha's first Tweet from , with the comment: "Amazing being in space, better than anything I ever imagined. Saw my first sunrise from the Cupola today!"

The three astronauts have about a week to get used to floating around their new surroundings before taking on a full schedule of science and maintenance for the rest of their six-month mission.

Provided by European Space Agency