spacetoday.net: Soyuz launches new ISS crew

Soyuz launches new ISS crew

Posted: Wed, Oct 24, 2012, 8:06 AM ET (1206 GMT)
Soyuz TMA-06M launch (NASA)

A Soyuz rocket launched a spacecraft carrying three new International Space Station crewmembers on Tuesday. The Soyuz rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 6:51 am EDT (1051 GMT, 4:51 pm local time) Tuesday and placed the Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft into orbit. The launch took place from Site 31 from Baikonur, which had not been used for a crewed Soyuz launch since 1984. On board the spacecraft are Russian cosmonauts Evgeny Tarelkin and Oleg Novitskiy and American astronaut Kevin Ford. The three are bound for the ISS, joining the three crewmembers currently on the station. The Soyuz is scheduled to dock with the ISS at 8:35 am EDT (1235 GMT) Thursday.