A Soyuz FG rocket carried the Soyuz TMA-07M/ISS-33S spacecraft into orbit from the Baikonour space port near Tyuratam, Kazakhstan at 1212GMT on 19 December 2012. Aboard the craft were, the Russian Cosmonaut, Roman Romanenko, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, and US astronaut Tom Marshburn who were being ferried to the International Space Station (ISS).
While unmanned Progress craft have successfully managed fast approaches for rendezvous and dockings with the ISS, this flight is to use the old style two-day approach method until the fast version is fully approved for manned spaceflight. The Soyuz TMA-07M/ISS-33S spacecraft will dock at the nadir port of the Rassvet mini-Research module on 21 December at circa 1410 GMT.
Under current plans, the next manned Soyuz flight, Soyuz TMA-08M, in late March will use the new shorter method while allows a rendezvous to be made within six hours of launch.
