US, Russian, British Astronaut Journey to International Space Station

Image: The Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft carrying the crew of Timothy Peake of Britain, Yuri Malenchenko of Russian Federation and Timothy Kopra of the USA blasts off to the International Space Station (ISS) from the launchpad at the Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, December 15, 2015.

Travelling with him in a tiny Soyuz TMA space capsule is Russian crew commander Yuri Malenchenko and American Nasa astronaut Tim Kopra.

The former army major is the first publicly funded astronaut to officially represent the British government in space, designated by the Union Jack patch on his space suit.

It was a breathtakingly lovely lift-off: the elegant Soyuz rocket, carrying the two astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut, blasted off into the wintry skies over Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazahkstan at 11.03 am GMT, much to the delight of millions of Britons of all walks of life and of course, the space enthusiasts all over the world.

A Soyuz space craft has successfully docked with the International Space Station.

But he expected to speak to members of his family on Christmas Day, and was also looking forward to tucking into a Christmas Pudding sent to the space station in a supply delivery.

Peake was the first British citizen to be selected for training by the European Space Agency back in 2009.

The new station crews Malenchenko, Kopra, and Peake are slated to stay on the station for up to six months.

Peake has two sons, ages 6 and 4, and his younger son got some attention during the launch this morning, crying and saying, “I want to go with Daddy!”

It was the first time a crew has landed after sunset and only the sixth night-time Soyuz return from the global space station.

Aboard the space station, Peake will conduct experiments on how the human body reacts in space.

The three crew members join the existing taskforce on board the ISS – Nasa astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Sergey Volkov. The first sunrise was absolutely spectacular.

The capsule remains attached to serve as a “lifeboat” if the ISS has to be evacuated in the event of a major disaster, such as a fire or collision with space debris.

Other movies that have screened aboard ISS this past year have mostly been space-related; among them are The Martian and Gravity.

“We have a serious project in the European Space Station to land on the moon, and that is part of an exploration of the solar system that will eventually take us to Mars”.