A new crew is speeding toward the International Space Station after launch this morning aboard a Soyuz rocket at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. American astronaut Peggy Whitson, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Melenchenko and Shiekh Muszaphar Sukor, the first Malaysian to fly in space, are due to arrive at the outpost at 10:52 a.m. Friday.
The weather at the central Asian spaceport was near perfect for the 9:22 a.m. launch, and the three-stage rocket performed without problems during a nine-minute dash into low Earth orbit.
You can read about the 16th resident crew of the station and their mission in our launch preview story here: Soyuz Launch Preview.
The high-level detail is in the official NASA Press Kit here: Ex16PressKit.pdf.
Click to enlarge and save the photos below. All are screen grabs from our live NASA TV coverage of the launch.
The Soyuz on its launch pad at Baikonur Cosmodrome as countdown clocks tick toward zero.
Ignition!
Liftoff!
Boosters peel away during first stage flight.
A star streaking through the skies over central Asian steppes.
A teardrop of exhaust forms as boosters fall toward Earth.
Shiekh Muszaphar Sukor smiles; Soyuz commander Yuri Malenchenko in the center seat.
American astronaut and Soyuz flight engineer Peggy Whitson reads out procedures as spacecraft commander Yuri Malenchenko uses a tool to toggle cockpit switches.
U.S. astronaut Clay Anderson watches live coverage of the launch in the U.S. Destiny lab at the International Space Station.
The aftermath at the launch pad
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