Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
5,4,3,2,1. Ignition. And we have a lift off!
The night sky over the world's largest space launch facility was lit up on Tuesday as a
Soyuz rocket launched one astronaut and two cosmonauts up to the International Space Station.
The first umbilical has now separated from the Soyuz.
From the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the trio will ride inside the rocket for about
six hours, orbiting the Earth four times before they reach the space station.
After docking they'll join the three astronauts currently manning the station, who are due
to return to Earth in May.
The International Space Station, which currently flies at about 260 miles above Earth, has
been permanently staffed by rotating crews of astronauts and cosmonauts since November 2000.
Tuesday's crew will then make their own return mission back home in September.