Watch the video of today’s launch in the extended portion of this blog post. International Space Station (ISS) expedition 20 ascends to low Earth orbit aboard an Energia Soyuz TMA-15 spacecraft, launched by the TSKB-Progress Soyuz-FG rocket from Baikonur cosmodrome. The TMA-15’s three passengers, Frank De Winne, Robert Thirsk and Roman Romanenko will join with ISS’s expedition 19 team to bring about the first ISS crew of six
Go here to read ESA’s information about its astronaut, Franke De Winne’s, mission, details about Canadian Space Agency’s Bob Thirsk are here and the Russian Federal Space Agency’s report can be found here on pre-launch fun for the TMA-15 crew
Commenting on the launch ESA human spaceflight director Simonetta Di Pippo says: “This mission marks a major milestone for human spaceflight and exploration. As Frank and his fellow crew members will join the other three ISS crew members we will reach a full 6 crew capability on the Station. This opens up new and exciting opportunities on the utilisation of the Station for scientific and research activities but also to prepare future exploration missions to more distant destinations.”
