A Russian rocket has blasted off from a space center in southern Kazakhstan, transporting a NASA astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts to the International Space Station.
The Soyuz craft carrying California native Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Russians Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Kornienko rose into brilliant blue skies from the Baikonur cosmodrome on schedule Friday. The craft docks Sunday with the space station, orbiting about 200 miles (320 kilometers) above the Earth.
Caldwell Dyson, Skvortsov and Kornienko as Expedition 24 will join the Russian, American and Japanese crew on board.
The astronauts are due to stay on board the space station until mid-September, leaving the lab just as the Shuttle Discovery sets off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in the last-ever shuttle flight.
Speaking at a press conference Thursday, Caldwell Dyson spoke of her sadness at seeing the end of the venerable U.S. spacecraft, which has been ferrying astronauts into space since the early 1980s.
"It's bitter, because we're saying goodbye to such a tremendous part of our space program," she said. "We've spent more time in that shuttle than we have in any vehicle and it has blessed with a space station today and many experienced astronauts."
Caldwell Dyson, Skvortsov and Kornienko spoke to reporters Thursday from behind the glass wall protecting them from contamination. Ahead of the launch day, astronauts have restricted exposure to the outside world to ensure that they do not fall victim to infection.
The three astronauts will join Russian commander Oleg Kotov, NASA astronaut Timothy J. Creamer and Soichi Noguchi of Japan on board the station.
With the winding-down of the shuttle, the Soyuz — which launched the world's first satellite into space in 1957 — is set to take on the burden of carrying astronauts to and from the space station.