14 DAY TRIAL // Right on schedule, a Soyuz spacecraft carrying a crew of three astronauts launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan this Wednesday, September 2, at 12:37 a.m. EDT.
Shortly after the event, NASA released footage showing the spacecraft leaving Earth and heading into orbit. If you have a couple of minutes to spare, scroll down to have a look at the launch yourselves.
The spacecraft carrying astronauts Sergey Volkov, Andreas Mongensen, and Aidyn Aimbetov to the International Space Station separated from the rocket used to propel it into orbit precisely 4 minutes and 46 seconds after takeoff.
During its first 9 minutes of flight, the spacecraft accelerated at a rate of 50 kilometers per hour (about 30 miles per hour) for every second. It is now circling Earth, looking to catch up to the orbital complex.
Rendezvous with the International Space Station is scheduled for September 4, at 3:42 a.m. EDT. Once the spacecraft docks to the complex, its crew will join the astronauts already aboard the International Space Station.
“With the arrival of Volkov, Mogensen and Aimbetov, nine people will be aboard the orbiting laboratory for the first time since 2013,” NASA explains in a statement.
The space explorers now aboard the orbital complex are Expedition 44 Flight Engineers Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren of NASA, Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineers Oleg Kononenko and Mikhail Kornienko of Roscosmos, and Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
