spacetoday.net: Soyuz launched to ISS

Posted: Tue, Apr 8, 2008, 10:12 AM ET (1412 GMT)
Soyuz TMA-12 launch (NASA)

A Soyuz spacecraft carrying two Russian cosmonauts and the first South Korean astronaut lifted off Tuesday on a mission to the International Space Station. A Soyuz rocket launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 7:16 EDT (1116 GMT) and placed the Soyuz TMA-12 spacecraft into orbit nine minutes later. The Soyuz, scheduled to dock with the ISS on Thursday, is carrying two Russian cosmonauts, Sergei Volkov and Oleg Kononenko, who will stay on the station as part of the ISS crew. Also on the Soyuz was the first South Korean to fly in space, Yi So-yeon. Yi was originally the backup to another Korean astronaut, Ko San, but was selected to fly last month after Ko had violated Russian training regulations by viewing and taking documents we was not supposed to access. Yi will return to Earth on the Soyuz currently docked to the station on April 19 along with current ISS crew members Yuri Malenchenko and Peggy Whitson.