Red-Headed Russian Spy Sends Off New Station Crew

A new crew is cruising toward a hook-up at the International Space Station Saturday after getting an unexpected send-off from red-headed Russian spy Anna Chapman.

U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly and two Russian cosmonauts -- Alexander Kalery and Oleg Skripochka -- are due to arrive at the frontier outpost at 8:01 p.m. Saturday. Live NASA TV coverage will pick up here in The Flame Trench at 7:15 p.m. Saturday. Click the NASA TV box on the right to launch our NASA TV viewer. We'll also have live coverage of a welcome ceremony at 11:01 p.m. Saturday.

The new station crew blasted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 7:10 p.m. Thursday.

The Associated Press reported that Chapman, who has avoided the public and the press since being deported from the U.S. in July, appeared at the farewell ceremony for the space crew. She told an Associated Press reporter that she had "just arrived" and refused to answer any questions.

The AP said Chapman then walked hastily to a guarded guest house near the launch pad accompanied by a burly man who blocked her from reporters.

Here's the rest of the AP report:

An official with Russia's space agency, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Chapman was at Baikonur as an adviser to the president of FondServisBank. The bank works with space industry companies and was handing out awards, the official said.

Chapman was one of 10 Russian spies deported from the U.S. Her sultry photos gleaned from social-networking sites made her a tabloid sensation.

Since returning to Russia she has kept a low profile. Last week, a trendy Moscow night club invited the media to a party to meet "the head heroine of the spy scandal of the year, the Russian Mata Hari Anna Chapman." But she did not show.

ABOUT THE IMAGES: Click to enlarge the Associated Press images taken at the launch Thursday from Baikonur Cosmodrome of a new crew heading to the International Space Station. Photo Credit: AP/Dmitry Lovetsky