Soyuz Rocket Lifts Off, Carries Three Astronauts To The International Space Station (Video)

First Posted: Nov 18, 2016 02:30 AM EST

Three astronauts from the U.S., France and Russia were launched into International Space Station on Nov. 17 onboard the Russian Soyuz rocket. They will be on a six-month mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

Expedition 50/51 prime crewmembers pose for pictures in front of their Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft pic.twitter.com/NWdkxQaxZO

— Angelina Ballerina (@LiNa8294) November 7, 2016

Space.com reports that the Expedition 50/51 crew involves NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, who will be the first woman to command the space station twice, Russian cosmonaut and Soyuz commander Oleg Novitskiy and the European Space Agency's Thomas Pesquet, the first French astronaut to live onboard the International Space Station.

The Soyuz MS-03 space capsule on the crest of Soyuz-FG rocket was lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:20 p.m. EST (8:20 p.m. GMT). The team will travel for the next two days after the space station. Meanwhile, the Soyuz capsule arrived on Earth 9 minutes after the liftoff.

[Live] A Soyuz-FG rocket has lifted off from Baikonur carrying the manned Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft. #ISS #Soyuz #Launch pic.twitter.com/IUBdGMzVT6 — Brendan Grainger (@S118869) November 17, 2016

The Expedition 50.51 will join the three Expedition 49/50 crew members who are now in the International Space Station. They arrived in October 2016 and will return to Earth in February. The members include NASA astronaut and ISS Commander Shane Kimbrough and Roscosmos cosmonauts Andrey Borisenko and Sergey Ryzhikov.

The Soyuz rocket measures 162 feet (49.5 meters) tall. It has two stages, namely, the core stage, which is about 69 feet (21.1 meters) long and 9.6 feet (2.95 meters) wide. It was empowered by single RD-108A engine that burned for around 280 seconds. Meanwhile, the second stage, which is the one to take over the flight is about 21.9 feet (6.7 meters) long and empowered by a single RD-0110 engine that is burned for the next 6 minutes before it also cut off as planned. This places the Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft and the three astronauts in orbit, according to Spaceflight Insider.