The Expedition 46 crew, Commander Yuri Malenchenko of the Russian Federal Space
Agency, American Flight Engineer 1
Timothy Kopra of NASA, and British
Flight Engineer 2 Timothy Peake. lifted off successfully from launch pad no.1, or
Gargarin’s start as it’s been known since 1961, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in
Kazakhstan.
Their tried and tested Soyuz TMA-M capsule perched on top of
the fifty metre Soyuz FG launch vehicle hurtled into the air and within two minutes
the Stage 2 boosters separated.
Aboard the capsule, the crew remained focused on the mission;
however Major Tim did manage to give a thumbs up, and a wave.
Tim will be the first Briton to join the crew of the ISS,
amongst them NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, who is spending a year on the space
station as part of a medical research programme which will no doubt help in the future mission of landing men (and women) on Mars.
I agree Scoop its a great achievement for Tim. Six years of training. Like a Surgeon! Its a comfort knowing that folks are up in space keeping an eye on us. If anything drastic happened here on the planet at least there'd be a few people left! And on the same historic day Curiosity the Mars Rover has reached the sand dunes of Mars. Just check out this stunning NASA image of High Dune. It could be Earth!
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