US-Russian trio blast off on mission to space station

Launch comes three days before 60th anniversary of the first human space flight

The Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft carrying the crew formed of Mark Vande Hei of NASA and cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov of Roscosmos blasts off to the International Space Station (ISS) from the launchpad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. ReutersShow less

A Russian-US trio of space travellers launched successfully on Friday, heading for the International Space Station.

Nasa astronaut Mark Vande Hei and Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov blasted off as scheduled at 12.42pm aboard the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft from the Russia-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan.

They are scheduled to dock at the station after a two-orbit, three-hour journey.

Expedition 65 NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and Russian cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov, waving farewell as they depart from a hotel at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. "AFP PHOTO

It is the second space mission for Mr Vande Hei and the third for Mr Novitskiy, while Mr Dubrov is on his first trip to the ISSn.

During the mission the crew will work on hundreds of experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science.

The launch comes three days before the 60th anniversary of the first human flight to space by Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and the 40th anniversary of the first launch of Nasa’s space shuttle.

On the space outpost, the three will join Nasa's Kate Rubins, Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker, Russians Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi.

The Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft carrying the crew formed of Mark Vande Hei of NASA and cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov of Roscosmos blasts off to the International Space Station (ISS) from the launchpad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. Reuters

Mr Rubins, Mr Ryzhikov and Mr Kud-Sverchkov arrived in a Soyuz ship in October; Mr Hopkins, Mr Glover, Mr Walker and Mr Noguchi – the crew of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience – joined them in November.