This
story was updated at 8:06 a.m. EDT.
A Russian
Soyuz rocket blasted off Wednesday carrying three spaceflyers from three
different countries on a mission to double the population of the International
Space Station.
The Soyuz
rocket launched at 6:34 a.m. EDT (1034 GMT) from Baikonur Cosmodrome in
Kazakhstan carrying the Russian-built Soyuz TMA-15 spacecraft and three people
aboard set to make history as part of the space station's first full
six-person crew. It was about 4:34 p.m. local time at the Central Asian
spaceport.
"Feeling
well onboard, systems in order," said Soyuz commander Roman Romanenko, the son
of veteran cosmonaut Yuri Romanenko, just after launch. "It's just like
flying."
Romanenko launched
into space alongside Canadian astronaut Robert Thirsk and Belgian
spaceflyer Frank De Winne, who represents the European Space Agency. They are
due to dock at the space station on Friday at 8:34 a.m. EDT (1234 GMT), where
three other spaceflyers representing Russia, the U.S. and Japan await their
arrival.
"We are an
international crew in an International Space Station and I think this is a
strength," De Winne said in a televised press conference before launch. "To
maintain six people in a station by one single nation today, I think that would
be impossible."
The $100
billion orbital lab is the product of cooperation between the U.S., Russia,
Canada, Japan and 11 countries in the European Space Agency. Doubling its crew
size will boost the amount of science and maintenance performed aboard, the spaceflyers
said.
Station's
first full crew
Romanenko,
De Winne and Thirsk are the second
wave of the space station's first-ever full six-person mission - Expedition
20 - which will begin Friday when their Soyuz TMA-15 spacecraft arrives at the
orbiting laboratory.
Construction
of the space station began in 1998 with the launch of its first piece, the
Russian-built Zarya control module. The first crew - a small, three-man team -
took up residence in 2000 after a U.S. connecting node and Russian crew
quarters were installed.
After
NASA's tragic 2003 Columbia disaster, the station's crew size dipped to only
two people - an American and a Russian - until the U.S. space shuttle fleet
resumed flight two years later. By 2006, the station had returned to
three-person crews and now, after more than 10 years of construction, the space
station has the internal living space of a jumbo jet.
"One of our
goals with our three colleagues on orbit is to prove that the station can
support six people for long duration," Thirsk said.
The space
station is currently home to veteran Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka - the
outpost's first two-time commander - as well American Michael Barratt and
Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, both flight engineers. Together, they make up
the space station's Expedition 19 crew, though that name will give way to
Expedition 20 on Friday.
Since their
mission began in late March, the Expedition 19 crew has been putting the final
touches on the station's life support systems that will support six people in
space.
Last week,
they officially activated the space station's urine
recycling system, which filters and converts astronaut urine back into
potable water fit for drinking, bathing, food preparation and oxygen
generation.
Padalka
will command Expedition 20 once it begins, then hand over control of the
station to De Winne - Europe's first station commander - when he and Barratt
return to Earth in the fall.
Science
Gets Boost
One of the
major goals for doubling the space station's crew is to increase the amount
of science performed aboard the orbiting lab. With twice as many people on
board, the station crew should be able to nearly triple the number of
experiments performed in a given mission, mission managers said before flight.
"The
six-person crew is a milestone for the International Space Station," Thirsk
said before flight. "In a big way, the International Space Station will be able
to fulfill its primary purpose, which is to function as a world class orbiting laboratory
for medical science and materials science."
Science
forms only part of a packed mission for the expanded space station crew.
Next month,
the spaceflyers plan to perform two spacewalks in as many weeks to prepare the
station for the arrival of a new Russian module. They will also host the first
of two planned NASA shuttle missions to continue construction of the orbiting
lab.
The June
flight will temporarily boost the number of people at the station to 13 - the
most ever - and will deliver the last piece of the station's massive
Japanese-built Kibo lab. Another shuttle flight in August will deliver
much-needed supplies and equipment. Eight more spacewalks are on tap during
those shuttle visits.
The station
crew will end the summer with the planned arrival of Japan's first unmanned
cargo ship, the H-2 Transfer Vehicle.
"On our
crew, we have a lot of fun, but we also work very hard," De Winne said. "So I think
whatever we do ... will be the lead for future space exploration in our solar
system."
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