Russia rocket blasts off for ISS
Source: Agencies |
October 9, 2010, Saturday
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A RUSSIAN rocket with a United States astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts onboard blasted off successfully early yesterday for the International Space Station.
The Soyuz TMA-01M was launched at the scheduled time of 5:10am from the Baikonur cosmodrome in the vast steppe of southern Kazakhstan.
The crew's relatives and supporters cheered when the Soyuz engines roared and the spaceship lifted off in a blaze of orange flames, making the ground shudder. Russian engineers hugged and kissed one another after the craft shed its first stage and it became clear the launch was a success.
Mike Suffredini, head of NASA's space station program who watched the launch from an observation point with his Russian counterparts, gave his thumbs-up to the launch: "You can hear it all the way up."
Scott Kelly and Russia's Alexander Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka are due to reach the orbiting laboratory in two days to begin their five-month mission. They will join two US astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut who have been at the station since June.
The three on their way to the ISS are flying in Russia's first all-digital Soyuz TMA-01M.
The overhauled Soyuz will allow a doubling of the launch rate of Soyuz spaceships, which will help maintain a crew of six aboard the space station when the NASA shuttle fleet is retired.
Kelly, a New Jersey native, will be joined at the space station by his twin brother Mark, another NASA astronaut who will fly a shuttle mission in February.
The Endeavor that will bring Mark Kelly to space is the next-to-last US shuttle before NASA wraps up 30 years of shuttle flight.
The International Space Station celebrates its 10th anniversary on November 20.
The mammoth station consists of 10 modules built by the United States, Russia, Canada, Japan and the 18-nation European Space Agency.
The Soyuz TMA-01M was launched at the scheduled time of 5:10am from the Baikonur cosmodrome in the vast steppe of southern Kazakhstan.
The crew's relatives and supporters cheered when the Soyuz engines roared and the spaceship lifted off in a blaze of orange flames, making the ground shudder. Russian engineers hugged and kissed one another after the craft shed its first stage and it became clear the launch was a success.
Mike Suffredini, head of NASA's space station program who watched the launch from an observation point with his Russian counterparts, gave his thumbs-up to the launch: "You can hear it all the way up."
Scott Kelly and Russia's Alexander Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka are due to reach the orbiting laboratory in two days to begin their five-month mission. They will join two US astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut who have been at the station since June.
The three on their way to the ISS are flying in Russia's first all-digital Soyuz TMA-01M.
The overhauled Soyuz will allow a doubling of the launch rate of Soyuz spaceships, which will help maintain a crew of six aboard the space station when the NASA shuttle fleet is retired.
Kelly, a New Jersey native, will be joined at the space station by his twin brother Mark, another NASA astronaut who will fly a shuttle mission in February.
The Endeavor that will bring Mark Kelly to space is the next-to-last US shuttle before NASA wraps up 30 years of shuttle flight.
The International Space Station celebrates its 10th anniversary on November 20.
The mammoth station consists of 10 modules built by the United States, Russia, Canada, Japan and the 18-nation European Space Agency.
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