Thursday 7 July 2016

Three astronauts blast off for ISS in upgraded Soyuz craft

Three astronauts blasted off into the early morning sky in an upgraded Soyuz spacecraft from Russia’s Baikonur cosmodrome Thursday, heading towards the International Space Station.First-time astronauts Kathleen Rubins of Nasa and Takuya Onishi of the Japanese space agency set off for a four-month mission at the ISS with Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin at around 0136 GMT.“All is well on board!” said mission control in comments relayed by Nasa TV, which broadcast footage of the launch in Kazakhstan.
Footage also showed Ivanishin and Onishi giving each other fist bumps to celebrate the successful launch.
Features of the new Soyuz series include upgraded boosters, an improved navigation system, strengthened shielding from debris and more cells on the craft’s solar panels.

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