Soyuz rocket launches on mission to space station

AAA??Jul. 14, 2012?10:59 PM ET
Soyuz rocket launches on mission to space station
AP

U.S. astronaut Sunita Williams, right, and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, crew members of the mission to the International Space Station, ISS, walk to the rocket prior to the launch of the Soyuz-FG at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan, Sunday, July 15, 2012. (AP Photo/Vyacheslav Oseledko, Pool)

U.S. astronaut Sunita Williams, right, and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, crew members of the mission to the International Space Station, ISS, walk to the rocket prior to the launch of the Soyuz-FG at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan, Sunday, July 15, 2012. (AP Photo/Vyacheslav Oseledko, Pool)

Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, center, U.S. astronaut Sunita Williams, above, and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, crew members of the mission to the International Space Station, ISS, gesture prior to the launch of the Soyuz-FG rocket at the Russian leased Baikonur Cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan, Sunday, July 15, 2012. (AP Photo/Vyacheslav Oseledko, Pool)

BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (AP) ? A Russian Soyuz craft has launched into the morning skies over Kazakhstan carrying three astronauts on their way to the international space station.

NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, Russian cosmonaut Yury Malenchenko and Japan's Akihito Hoshide will travel two days before reaching their three colleagues already at the permanent space outpost.

Family members and colleagues watched Sunday's launch from an observation platform in the Russian-leased cosmodrome in the dry southern steppes of this sprawling Central Asian nation.

The space station, which orbits up to 410 kilometers (255 miles) above the earth, is bracing to handle an unprecedented level of traffic.

Japan's HTV3 cargo ship will dock with the space station next week and will be the first of nine craft making contact with the orbiting satellite over a 17-day span.

Associated PressNews Topics: General news, Science, Space launch industry, Space technology, Space industry, Spacecraft, Aerospace technology, Industrial technology, Technology, Aerospace and defense, Industrial products and services, Industries, Business, Manned spacecraft

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