Russia's Soyuz spacecraft blasted off on its latest mission, to deliver Russia, European, American and Japanese astronauts to the International Space Station.The launch, which took place at 2:09 pm. EST from the Baikonur cosmodrome on the steppes of Kazakhstan, came despite worries about the re-entry module of the Soyuz craft, which was hastily replaced earlier this month after it was damaged during unloading at the remote Russian launch site.Russia's Dmitry Kondratyev, NASA astronaut Catherine Coleman and the European Space Agency's Paolo Nespoli of Italy will spend five months at the space station, which has a full schedule for 2011, with the arrival of several cargo craft delivered by the U.S., Russian, European and Japanese space agencies.
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/...-blasts-space/
Note: Published December 15, 2010