Dawlish News
Soyuz lifts off, headed for ISS
BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan, A Russian rocket carrying a new Russian-U.S. crew to the international space station has lifted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome. For Russians Salizhan Sharipov and Yuri Shargin and American Leroy Chiao, it was the first mission in a Soyuz spacecraft -- breaking the nearly 30-year tradition of having at least one crewman with previous experience in piloting the capsule. Chiao and Sharipov both have flown U.S. space shuttles, while Shargin is a rookie. The Soyuz TMA-5 lifted off from the bleak steppes of Kazakhstan at 7:06 Moscow time (0306 GMT) and was due to dock with the station two days later. "The crew reached orbit and the parameters are normal," Russian Mission Control chief Vladimir Solovyov told reporters in Korolyov, outside Moscow. "We are in for two days of quiet, energetic work." Russian space officials have played down the lack of Soyuz experience, and the crew said Wednesday that thorough training had compensated for it. Their trip to the international space station will take two days.
