Russian Rocket Launches International Crew to Space Station [View all]

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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