TMA-16 Launches to the ISS

Two Expedition 21 crew members and a space tourist launched for the International Space Station (ISS) at 3:14 am EDT (0714 GMT) this morning, atop a Soyuz delivery system. The spacecraft, which carries the manned Soyuz space capsule, took off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, which is operated by the Russian space agency RosCosmos. The craft is scheduled to reach the orbital lab two days from now, on Friday. When TMA-16 docks to the station, it will mark a unique moment in history, when three capsules will be attached to the ISS at the same time (Soyuz 14, 15 and 16).

NASA astronaut Jeff Williams, Russian cosmonaut Max Suraev and spaceflight participant Guy Laliberte, possibly the last tourist to fly in space in the foreseeable future, make up the new Soyuz crew. Once aboard the space station, the two professional astronauts will replace current ISS Commander Gennady Padalka and NASA flight engineer Michael Barratt. Both experts are at the end of a six-month stay, and are looking forward to returning to Earth and seeing their families again.

They will return aboard the Soyuz TMA-14 capsule, alongside Laliberte, who is the founder of the famous circus troupe Cirque du Soleil. Their capsule has been attached to the ISS since March this year. The other spacecraft currently affixed to the station, TMA-15, acts like a survival pod, to be used in case of emergencies. It was launched in May, and it is scheduled to return to Kazakhstan this November. Because NASA may retire its space-shuttle fleet next year, Laliberte could be the last space tourist for the next five to ten years.

TMA-16 will dock to the ISS on Friday, October 2nd, at around 4:37 am EDT (0837 GMT), after two days of chasing the ISS in orbit. The Expedition 21 will mark a period of intense activity for the space station. Two shuttle flights and another Soyuz launch will take place during its alloted time, and numerous other unmanned cargo ships will continue to resupply the outpost.

The current astronauts aboard the ISS are Expedition 20 Commander Gennady Padalka, NASA's Mike Barratt and Nicole Stott, the European Space Agency's (ESA) Frank De Winne, who will take over as the Commander of Expedition 21, Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, and the Canadian Space Agency's (CSA) Bob Thirsk.