The nation’s first astronaut has reached the International Space Station (ISS) in Earth orbit at an altitude of 350 kilometers.

Russia’s Soyuz TMA-12 spacecraft carrying Yi Soyeon and two Russian cosmonauts docked at the ISS at ten p.m. Thursday, Korean time, after circling the planet 34 times over a two-day period.

Docking took about two hours and forty minutes, allowing Yi and the Russian crew to enter the station about 40 minutes past midnight Thursday night.

In a video link with Russia's Mission Control Center, Yi said she could not believe she was in space. She added that as the first South Korean to go into space, she'll work to show her country can make its mark there.

Yi began conducting three experiments shortly after her arrival.

She'll return to Earth the weekend of April 19th after completing 18 experiments.