Russian Soyuz Blasts Off for Space Station

From what was described as an "ink-black launchpad at the Baikonour Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan," a Russian-built Soyuz spacecraft with an international crew blasted off Tuesday afternoon, heading for the International Space Station.

NASA astronaut Mike Fossum, Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov, and Satoshi Furukawa of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), traveled at speeds of up to 13,500 mph, looking to orbit the space station on Thursday. The launch went off as scheduled and without incident at 4:12 p.m. EDT.

The three crewmates took flight less than a week after the successful completion of NASA's second-to-last space shuttle mission. The shuttle Endeavour landed at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 1, ending the orbiter's final flight before retirement.

According to Fox News, Fossum, Volkov and Furukawa are set to begin "their long stints aboard the space station -- continuing the uninterrupted presence of humans on the station since Nov. 2, 2000 -- where they will make up the remainder of the station's Expedition 28 crew."

The crew will join NASA astronaut Ron Garan and Russian cosmonauts Alexander Samokutyaev and Andrey Borisenko, who have been living and working at the space station since early April.
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