New space station crew rockets into space

(usatoday) -- A Russian capsule carrying South Korea's first astronaut and two cosmonauts blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Tuesday, en route to the International Space Station.

The Soyuz TMA-12 craft lifted off on time, roaring into the evening skies over Kazakhstan's barren steppes before turning down range and entering its preliminary orbit about 10 minutes later.

South Korean bioengineer Yi So-yeon, 29, cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Sergei Volkov will spend two days in the cramped capsule before docking at the orbiting station.

Live footage broadcast from inside the capsule showed the South Korean smiling and waving and giving the thumbs-up sign. full story