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Crew blasts off for International Space Station

Crew blasts off for International Space Station | iNFOnews.ca
The Soyuz-FG rocket booster with Soyuz TMA-15M space ship carrying a new crew to the International Space Station, ISS, blasts off at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Monday, Nov. 24, 2014. The Russian rocket carries U.S. astronaut Terry Virts, Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, and Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti. Credit: AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky

BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan – A Russian capsule carrying three astronauts from Russia, the United States and Italy has blasted off for the International Space Station.

The Soyuz capsule roared into the pre-dawn darkness just after 3 a.m. Monday (2100 GMT Sunday) from the Russian manned space facility in Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

Aboard the capsule are Russian Anton Shkaplerov, NASA's Terry Virts and European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti of Italy.

The craft will dock with the space station about six hours after launch, where they will join three others already aboard. Those include Russian Elana Serova, and Cristoforetti's arrival will make it the second time in the station's 16-year history that two women have been aboard on long-term missions.

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Howard Alexander

Assistant Editor Howard Alexander comes to iNFOnews.ca from the broadcasting side of the media business.

Howard has been a reporter, news anchor, talk show host and news director, first in Saskatchewan and then the Okanagan.

He moved his family to Vernon in the 90s and is proud to call the Okanagan home.

If you have an event to share contact Howard at 250-309-5343or email halexander@infonews.ca.

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