Soyuz rocket launches on mission to space station

The Soyuz-FG rocket booster with Soyuz TMA-05M space ship carrying a new crew to the International Space Station, ISS, flies in the sky at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Sunday, July 15, 2012. The Russian rocket carries Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, U.S. astronaut Sunita Williams and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide. / AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky

(AP) BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan - A Russian Soyuz craft launched into the morning skies over Kazakhstan on Sunday, carrying three astronauts on their way to the international space station where they will quickly start preparing for a frenzy of incoming traffic.

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

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

The Soyuz jettisoned three rocket booster stages as it was propelled into orbit, which takes just over nine minutes.

At that stage, a doll given to Malenchenko as a mascot by his daughter and suspended over the three astronauts floated out of view on television footage, indicating the craft had escaped the earth's gravitational pull.

Williams gave a thumbs-up sign and waved to onboard cameras as Russian space agency chief Vladimir Popovkin congratulated the crew over radio control.

Malenchenko, who is piloting the Soyuz, is one of Russia's most experienced astronauts and is making his fifth voyage into space.

Williams, who was born in Euclid, Ohio, and raised in Massachusetts, is on her second mission and will further extend the record for the longest sojourn in space for a female astronaut. She spent 195 days at the space station in 2006-2007.

Russians Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin and U.S. astronaut Joseph Acaba have been working at the space station since mid-May.

The space station, which orbits up to 410 kilometers (255 miles) above the earth, is braced 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.

The Soyuz is schedule to dock Tuesday with the space station at 08:52 a.m. Moscow time (0452 GMT).

[CaptainSmollett]

...and in other news, China is now the worlds largest producer of personal computers (a technology developed by the US). So is it any wonder that Russia and China have a more active space program than the U.S.? Innovation has always been our competitive advantage, but we are losing that. The forecast is for more rain.

[smartalecq]

Economists and visionaries believe that developing a commercial space industry is the next step to accelerate innovations in space technology and to pioneer America into the space economy.

Before Obama, space was being militarized instead of being commercialized. What would you rather see in the future? Orbiting bombs and lasers, or space hotels and theme parks?

[venusvegasvada]

Obama didn't outsource the entire Space program to the Russians.

If NASA could keep the Shuttles from blowing up or disintegrating because of bad management decisions we still might be flying the Shuttles.

As far as the Soyuz goes, as far as manned spacecraft go, the manned version of the Soyuz is THE safest space launch system anyone has. If you want to go to space and not be killed in an experiment, Soyuz is what you want to be on.

[venusvegasvada]

and you sound like one of those space coast guys who's 30 year gravy train pulled into the station.

We do have a space program by the way, it's called Space X.

[JRC_903]

Even if NASA had an unlimited budget, the shuttle program would have to be ended sooner or later. While the vehicle was almost perfect for building the ISS, it was not the right vehicle to use for routine crew exchanges etc.

While GW Bush ordered the end to the shuttle program, I was at first disappointed but then realized that this was one of the few things he did that made sense. What I did not know, was that while he claimed he wanted NASA to build a vehicle to replace the crew delivery aspect of the shuttle, he deliberately underfunded the program. This would have meant it would be ready sometime in 2020 at best. So .. when the new guy took over about 5 years had been wasted doing almost nothing. So.. it is quite remarkable that someone would say Obama outsourced man space to the RUSSIANS. When in fact, all he did was not counteract a republican discussion.

Now let the one line comments about how I don't know what I'm talking about begin. Make sure you don't add any information as to WHY IM wrong.

[realtimecoffee]

This doesn't happen much these days, but thsnk you Russia, for keeping the dream alive.

[BeccaLeigh27]

I wonder why they didn't just use....oh, almost forgot!! Obama OUTSOURCED our entire space program to the Russians!!

[smartalecq]

The Obama administration intends to move toward relying on commercially-built spacecraft, rather than NASA's own vehicles, to carry humans to low-Earth orbit. This strategy gives private American space companies that are developing human payload technology; like Space X, SpaceDev, Interorbital Systems Corporation, Blue Origin, Starchaser Industries; a chance to flourish into a commercially viable enterprise.

Economists and visionaries believe that developing a commercial space industry is the next step to accelerate innovations in space technology and to pioneer America into the space economy.

Relying on commercially built spacecraft would also enable NASA to focus on more ambitious human spaceflight missions, like expeditions to Mars.

When the Internet was invented by the defense department, not many realized it's potential impact to our economy and our way of life. Fortunately, people with a vision pursued to commercialize it's technology. Today we have Cisco, Real networks, Google, ebay, Amazon, Netflix, Vonage. These companies produce a diversity of services that multiply our productivity and contribute a large part to our economy.

Obama did not pull out this strategy from his hat. He consulted field experts, scientists, economists and CEOs.

Before Obama, space was being militarized instead of being commercialized. What would you rather see in the future? Orbiting bombs and lasers or space hotels and theme parks?