The first
Brazilian ever to reach space and two International Space Station (ISS) astronauts
launched skyward late Wednesday on a two-day trip to the orbital laboratory.
Brazilian
astronaut Marcos
Pontes and the 13th
space station crew rocketed into orbit after a flawless liftoff of their
Russian-built Soyuz booster from its Baikonur Cosmodrome launch site in a
Central Asian desert in Kazakhstan.
Pontes left
Earth at 9:30 p.m. EST (0230 March 30 GMT) alongside ISS Expedition 13
commander Pavel Vinogradov and flight engineer Jeffrey Williams aboard a
Russian Soyuz TMA-8 spacecraft. Their mission began at the same historic pad
that saw cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin launch on the first-ever manned spaceflight on
April 12, 1961.
"We're
feeling good," said Vinogradov, a cosmonaut with Russia's Federal Space Agency,
after the astronaut trio reached orbit. "We're smiling here."
A smiling
Pontes - a lieutenant colonel in the Brazilian Air Force - pointed to the Brazilian
flag patch emblazoned on his Sokol spacesuit and waved to cameras inside the
Soyuz capsule during the nine-minute trip to space. He will spend eight days
conducting experiments aboard the ISS.
The
Expedition 13 crew, however, has a six-month space mission ahead of them to
relieve Expedition
12 commander Bill McArthur and flight engineer Valery Tokarev, who have
served aboard the ISS since their orbital
arrival in October 2005.
"It was a
beautiful launch and a beautiful day for the space station," said Kirk
Shireman, NASA's deputy ISS program manager, just after the successful space
shot.
Before
today's launch, Pontes and the Expedition 13 crew shrugged off a pair of omens -
a rare solar
eclipse and their mission's numerical moniker - which have
traditionally been hailed as unlucky.
"I think
the eclipse and the number 13 are an alignment of the stars for a very good
mission," Pontes said. "Everything we do is like a present to commemorate this
special date."
The
Expedition 12 astronauts aboard the ISS were able to photograph the eclipse's
shadow on Earth during the event.
A busy
mission
Vinogradov
and Williams have a busy six months ahead of them.
The two
astronauts hope to host two NASA space shuttle crews during their mission,
beginning with the anticipated July arrival of STS-121
- NASA's second test flight following the 2003 Columbia accident -
aboard Discovery. That flight is also expected to return the ISS to its full,
three-person crew size by delivering European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas
Reiter to the station.
"Probably
the most special part of the flight will be Thomas joining us on board," Williams
said before today's launch.
ISS crews
have been limited
to two astronauts a piece since the Columbia accident.
A second
shuttle flight, STS-115 aboard the Atlantis orbiter, is scheduled to launch
toward the ISS no earlier than late August to deliver a new set of solar arrays
and resume space station construction.
Returning
the ISS to a three-person crew and kick-starting its stalled construction plan is
essential for the orbital laboratory, Vinogradov said.
"Prior to
the Columbia [accident], the delay in the station assembly sequence was
measured by months," the Expedition 13 commander has said. "Now it's measured
by years and growing with each expedition."
A nation's
first spaceflight
As the
Expedition 13 crew prepares to take charge of the ISS, Pontes is shouldering
the space exploration hopes
of his entire nation.
"It's a
very good feeling, I'm very happy about this, but it's a very big
responsibility," Pontes said about his role as Brazil's first astronaut. "I
will take it very seriously."
Pontes
joined NASA's international astronaut ranks in 1998 hoping for space shuttle
flight. But the delays caused first by the Columbia accident, then by NASA's recovery and ongoing fuel
tank foam work prompted the Brazilian Space Agency to seek
a seat aboard the Soyuz TMA-8 vehicle.
During his
eight days aboard the ISS, Pontes plans to conduct a series of nanotechnology
experiments, as well as several for Brazilian students across schools in his
native country. He will return to Earth with the Expedition 12 crew on April 8.
His
Centennial Mission also commemorates the 100-year anniversary of the first
heavier-than-air flight by Brazilian aviator Alberto Santo-Dumont in 1906.
Riding into space with the Brazilian astronaut were his nation's flag, a jersey
of the country's national soccer team and other items.
"It's not
only because of governments or the science that we do this," Pontes said before
launch. "It's because we as human beings have always had that need to know what's
beyond."
It will
take Pontes and the Expedition 13 crew about two days to reach the ISS after a
series of orbital maneuvers to place them in the proper rendezvous position.
The three
astronauts are expected to dock at the space station's Zarya control module Friday
at 11:19 p.m. EST (0419 April 1 GMT). NASA will provide live coverage of
Expedition 13's ISS docking on NASA TV beginning at 10:00 p.m. EST (0300 April
1 GMT).
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