Two US astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut blasted off for the International Space Station (ISS)in a nighttime launch from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan early Wednesday, heading for a five-month mission.
The Soyuz MS-06 rocket carrying Alexander Misurkin of the Russia's Roscosmos space agency, NASA first-time flyer Mark Vande Hei and his veteran colleague Joe Acaba launched as scheduled at 3:17 am (2117 GMT), according to images broadcast live by Roscosmos.
After a roughly six-hour flight, the spacecraft is expected to dock at around 0300 GMT on Wednesday, where the astronauts will join Paolo Nespoli of Italy, Sergey Riazanski of Russia and Randy Bresnik of the US.
The launch marks the first time two US astronauts have blasted off together on a mission to the ISS from Russia's Baikonur since June 2010.
The American space agency stopped its own manned launches to the ISS in 2011 but recently moved to increase its crew complement aboard the orbital lab as the Russians cut theirs in a cost-saving measure announced last year.
Acaba, 50, has spent nearly 138 days in space over two missions, while Vande Hei, 50, served with the US army in Iraq before training as an astronaut.
Misurkin, 39, who is beginning his second mission aboard the ISS, also has a military background.
The Soyuz MS-06 rocket carrying Alexander Misurkin of the Russia's Roscosmos space agency, NASA first-time flyer Mark Vande Hei and his veteran colleague Joe Acaba launched as scheduled at 3:17 am (2117 GMT), according to images broadcast live by Roscosmos.
The launch marks the first time two US astronauts have blasted off together on a mission to the ISS from Russia's Baikonur since June 2010.
The American space agency stopped its own manned launches to the ISS in 2011 but recently moved to increase its crew complement aboard the orbital lab as the Russians cut theirs in a cost-saving measure announced last year.
Acaba, 50, has spent nearly 138 days in space over two missions, while Vande Hei, 50, served with the US army in Iraq before training as an astronaut.
Misurkin, 39, who is beginning his second mission aboard the ISS, also has a military background.
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