The Soyuz left the launch pad to take three astronauts to ISS

On the evening of December 19, the Russian Soyuz spacecraft left the launch pad in Kazakhstan to bring three astronauts flying to work for five months on the International Space Station (ISS).

According to the US Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) website, Soyuz TMA-07M carried three astronauts who left the launch pad at Russia's Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan at 18.12 pm 19 / 12 (local time, ie 19 hours 12 minutes on the same day as VN time).

Soyuz TMA-07M carries three astronauts who have left the platform
launched at Russia's Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan

As expected after two days of traveling in space, three astronauts on Soyuz TMA-07M including Roman Romanenko (Russia), Chris Hadfield (Canada) and Tom Marshburn (USA) will come to connect with Rassvet's module. ISS at 21:12 on December 21 to (VN time).

All three will join the three astronauts present on the station are Oleg Novitsky, Yevgeny Tarelkin (same Russia) and Kevin Ford (USA) of Soyuz TMA-06M to become the 34th ISS International Fleet.

Soyuz crew TMA-06M was posted to ISS on 25 October and is expected to return to Earth in March 2013, while Soyuz crew TMA-07M is scheduled to return home in May / two thousand and thirteen.

Also according to NASA, Canadian astronaut Hadfield flew to ISS in April 2001 on a shuttle Endeavor to carry Canadarm2 robot arm made by the country to the station.

Hadfield will also become the first Canadian to serve as the ISS commander at the 35th ISS International Fleet, after Soyuz TMA-06M leaves the station to finish the 34th ISS International Fleet mission.

And astronaut Marshburn also flew to ISS in July 2009 on a space shuttle Endeavor and Romanenko on a six-month station as a flight engineer of the 20th-21st ISS International Fleet.