NASA TV said that astronauts from Russia, the U.S. and Canada left safely from Kazakhstan earlier today in a mission bound for the International Space Station. Last month, two astronauts from the US and Russia were forced to make an emergency landing just two minutes after take-off when their Russian-made Soyuz rocket malfunctioned. Russian investigators blamed the malfunction on a damaged sensor.
NASA confirmed that “the spacecraft separation; Soyuz capsule and crew are safely in orbit.”
Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, U.S. astronaut Anne McClain and Canadian Space Agency’s David Saint-Jacques appeared briefly before relatives and reporters on Monday morning, waving and blowing kisses as they left a hotel to board a bus on their way to prepare for the flight.
The crew denied being nervous about their mission and insisted the fact that the two-man crew had safely returned to Earth despite the dramatic mishap had demonstrated the reliability of the rocket’s safety mechanisms.
Crew commander Mr Kononenko said: “Risk is part of our profession.
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“We are psychologically and technically prepared for blastoff and any situation which, God forbid, may occur on board.”
Ms McClain, a former military pilot, said the crew “feel very ready” for their mission.
And Mr Saint-Jacques joked that he had received so much flight training “that I felt at the end that I could build a Soyuz in my backyard.”
Yesterday, an Orthodox priest at the launch pad gave his blessing to the flight, splashing holy water from a brush and holding up a cross.
If all goes to plan, the spacecraft is due to dock at the ISS at just after 5.30pm tonight – six hours after lift-off.
The crew will then spend six-and-a-half-months on board the station.
Astronauts Serena Aunon-Chancellor, Russian Sergei Prokopyev and German Alexander Gerst are at the space station waiting for their arrival.
The trio have been in orbit since June but are due back to earth on December 20.