Soyuz TMA-8 takes off to ISS with Brazilian astronaut

Soyuz TMA-8 takes off to ISS with Brazilian astronaut

The Russian spacecraft Soyuz TMA-8 has taken off carrying supplies along with the new two-man crew of the International Space Station (ISS) and a Brazilian astronaut. The spacecraft took off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

It is carrying Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov, U.S. astronaut Jeffrey Williams and Brazilian astronaut Marcus Pontes and the spacecraft is expected to dock with the International Space Station tomorrow.

Mission Control representative Valery Lyndin said in a statement on this mission: “The Soyuz TMA-8 separated from the Soyuz-FG booster at 6:39 a.m. Moscow time (0239 GMT) and has reached the calculated orbit.”

Vinogradov and Williams would be taking over from the currently stationed ISS crew Russian cosmonaut Valery Tokarev and U.S. astronaut William McArthur. They have been in space on the ISS since October last year.

The next six months would see this new crew of the ISS make four space walks — two on the Russian program and two on the U.S. program. They would also be conducting as many as 50 experiments during their stay in the Space.