A Russian-U.S. trio of space vacationers launched efficiently Friday, heading for the International Space Station.
NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov blasted off as scheduled at 12:42 p.m. (0742 GMT, 3:42 a.m. EDT) aboard the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft from the Russia-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan.
They are set to dock on the station after a two-orbit, three-hour journey.
It’s the second space mission for Vande Hei and the third for Novitskiy, whereas Dubrov is on his first mission.
During their mission, the crew will work on a whole lot of experiments in biology, biotechnology, bodily science and Earth science.
