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A Russian rocket carrying three astronauts blasted off in southern Kazakhstan on Friday, kicking off a tightly packed schedule at the International Space Station in the coming days.
The Soyuz craft carrying California native Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Russians Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Kornienko soared from the Baikonur cosmodrome in southern Kazakhstan in a carefully regimented operation that has been perfected over the decades.
At the scheduled time of 10:04 a.m. (0404 GMT), powerful booster rockets shattered the stillness of the immense and arid Kazakh steppe, propelling the Soyuz heavenward atop an iridescent flow of flames against the limpid blue sky.
Spectators gazed as the craft disappeared into a faint dot. They broke into applause when officials announced the Soyuz had entered into orbit.
The craft, which thundered into orbit at more than 8,000 miles per hour (13,000 kilometers per hour) about 10 minutes into the flight, will dock on Easter Sunday with the space station, orbiting about 200 miles (320 kilometers) above the Earth.
Live pictures broadcast from the craft showed expedition chief Skvortsov smiling as a toy duck nicknamed "Quack" dangled overhead. Once the craft entered orbit, the fluffy talisman began to float, demonstrating zero gravity.
"The vehicle is performing fine," Skvortsov was heard saying after a long communications disruption due to static. Caldwell Dyson didn't respond to questions from Russian mission control in Moscow asking how she was, apparently due to radio interference.
The Soyuz craft carrying California native Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Russians Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Kornienko soared from the Baikonur cosmodrome in southern Kazakhstan in a carefully regimented operation that has been perfected over the decades.
At the scheduled time of 10:04 a.m. (0404 GMT), powerful booster rockets shattered the stillness of the immense and arid Kazakh steppe, propelling the Soyuz heavenward atop an iridescent flow of flames against the limpid blue sky.
Spectators gazed as the craft disappeared into a faint dot. They broke into applause when officials announced the Soyuz had entered into orbit.
The craft, which thundered into orbit at more than 8,000 miles per hour (13,000 kilometers per hour) about 10 minutes into the flight, will dock on Easter Sunday with the space station, orbiting about 200 miles (320 kilometers) above the Earth.
Live pictures broadcast from the craft showed expedition chief Skvortsov smiling as a toy duck nicknamed "Quack" dangled overhead. Once the craft entered orbit, the fluffy talisman began to float, demonstrating zero gravity.
"The vehicle is performing fine," Skvortsov was heard saying after a long communications disruption due to static. Caldwell Dyson didn't respond to questions from Russian mission control in Moscow asking how she was, apparently due to radio interference.