Rocket carrying Emirati, Russian, American blasts off for ISS
CHEERS. People at Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai gesture and wave Emirati national flags as they watch screens showing a Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft lifting off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The spacecraft carries 35-year-old Emirati astronaut Hazzaa al-Mansoori, who will spend 8 days aboard the International Space Station. Photo by Karim Sahib /AFP
BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan – A rocket blasted off from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, September 25, with an Emirati on board who will be the first Arab on the International Space Station.
The Soyuz rocket carrying the three-member crew – including Hazzaa al-Mansoori of the United Arab Emirates – blasted off as scheduled at 1357 GMT.
Mansoori, 35, is accompanied by Russia's Oleg Skripochka and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir.
They are expected to dock at the station just under 6 hours after launch.
"Everything continues to go smoothly for this ride," a commentator said on NASA television 7 minutes after the launch.
Russia's Roscosmos space agency said on Twitter that the spacecraft had successfully reached orbit.
Mansoori received support from around the world before what he described as his "dream" mission.
He was seen showing his fist in the air before the launch.
He will spend 8 days on the ISS and will be the first Emirati and the first Arab on the orbiting laboratory, but not the first Muslim.
Skripochka, first-time flyer Meir and Mansoori will join a six-member crew on the ISS and for a brief period of time the ISS will be home to 9 astronauts.
The International Space Station – a rare example of cooperation between Russia and the West – has been orbiting Earth at about 28,000 kilometers per hour (17,000 miles per hour) since 1998. – Rappler.com
