A crew consisting of two Russians and one American is headed for the International Space Station. They were aboard the Russian Soyuz spacecraft. The ship took off from Kazakhstan on Thursday.
The Soyuz MS-28 rocket took off PHOTO: X
The crew of three cosmonauts began their mission to the International Space Station aboard a Russian spacecraft.
The Soyuz MS-28 rocket lifted off at 14:27 local time from the Russian-leased Baikonur station in Kazakhstan, according to Mediafax.
The spacecraft is carrying NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Russian cosmonauts Sergei Mikaev and Sergei Kud-Sverchkov. The spacecraft docked with the International Space Station about three hours after launch, at 5:34 p.m.
All three are expected to spend about eight months at the orbital outpost. NASA said it was the first space flight for Williams, a physicist, and Mikaev, a military pilot. Instead, it is the second flight for Kud-Sverchkov.
At the International Space Station, the three joined 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.
Williams will conduct scientific research and technology demonstrations at the orbital outpost aimed at advancing space exploration and benefiting life on Earth, NASA said.
