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US-Russian space crew lifts off for space station

Member of expedition to the International Space Station Russian cosmonaut Elena Serova waves during farewell ceremony as they get up into the spacecraft Soyuz TMA-14M before the launch at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014. (AP Photo/Yuri Kochetkov, Pool)
Member of expedition to the International Space Station Russian cosmonaut Elena Serova waves during farewell ceremony as they get up into the spacecraft Soyuz TMA-14M before the launch at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014. (AP Photo/Yuri Kochetkov, Pool) Member of expedition to the International Space Station Russian cosmonaut Elena Serova waves during farewell ceremony as they get up into the spacecraft Soyuz TMA-14M before the launch at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014. (AP Photo/Yuri Kochetkov, Pool)

By Associated Press 1 min read

BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (AP) – A U.S.-Russian space crew has blasted off successfully for the International Space Station.

The Russian Soyuz-TMA14M spacecraft lifted off as scheduled at 2:25 a.m. Friday (2025 GMT Thursday, 4:25 p.m. EDT) from the Russian-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan. It’s carrying NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore along with Russians Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova for a six-month stint at the station.

The Soyuz is set to dock at the orbiting outpost in about six hours after the launch, joining an international crew of three currently manning the station.

Serova is the first Russian woman to fly to space since 1997, and the fourth woman in the history of the Soviet and Russian space programs. Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space in 1963.