Russian Rocket Launches International Crew to Space Station

[Purveyor]

A Russian Soyuz rocket launched three new crewmembers on an express trip to the International Space Station Wednesday (May 28), kicking off a months-long voyage in orbit.

NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst of Germany and cosmonaut Maxim Suraev soared into orbit from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan at 3:57 p.m. EDT (1957 GMT) atop their Russian-built Soyuz spacecraft. The crew is expected to dock to the orbiting outpost at 9:48 p.m. EDT (0148 May 29 GMT), and you can watch the spacecraft's arrival live on Space.com via NASA TV starting at 9 p.m. EDT (0100 May 29 GMT).

"All systems reported as nominal, going as expected," a NASA spokesman said during the live broadcast. After the crew made it safely to orbit, he described the lift-off as a "flawless launch." [Launch Photos: See the Soyuz Rocket Launch Into Space]

http://www.space.com/26026-soyuz-rocket-launches-space-station-crew.html

[DreamGypsy]

1. No Politics in Space

The ISS is an example of what Russia, US can achieve working together:

Sharing such an experience as a spaceflight – from launch to landing – is very unifying, Hopkins stressed as he arrived in Star City, near Moscow, for his crew’s official welcoming ceremony.

“You’re very close together in the Soyuz [Russian spacecraft],” he said. “And then just the time – the daily time that you spend there – it’s an experience that you always have. And I’ll always look back at that memory of not just my time up there, but my time with them. And that’s something very special and again – I consider them very close friends now.”

According to the 45-year-old, the tensions between Russia and the US over the events in Ukraine “had no impact” on relations with his Russian crew members.

“I think, actually, the International Space Station is still an example of what our nations can accomplish when they work together,” he said.

[Uncle Joe]

2. I agree.