Ferchi

Credit: ESA-CNES-Arianespace/Optique video du CSG-L. Barthet BarateigInternational crew launched by Soyuz rocketSPACEFLIGHT NOWPosted: May 29, 2014 A three-man crew put on spacesuits and strapped into a Soyuz booster for launch Wednesday, riding a pillar of orange rocket exhaust into orbit on the way to a five-and-a-half month mission on the International Space Station.Led by veteran Russian cosmonaut Maxim Suraev, the crew lifted off inside the Soyuz TMA-13M spacecraft at 1957 GMT (3:57 p.m. EDT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.Suraev's crew mates were Reid Wiseman, a NASA flight engineer, and European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst.Five main engines generated more than 900,000 pounds of thrust to power the 150-foot-tall rocket into a starry sky over the barren space center. The launch occurred at 1:57 a.m. local time at Baikonur, casting an orange glow over the area before the rocket dimmed to a point of light as it raced northeast in pursuit of the space station.Less than six hours later, at 0144 GMT (9:44 p.m. EDT), the trio docked to the space station using the Soyuz capsule's radar-guided autopilot.These photos show the crew's launch day preparations, beginning with the traditional signing of the doors at the Cosmonaut Hotel at Baikonur. After suiting up in their Sokol spacesuits, the crew took a bus ride to Launch Pad No. 1 to board the Soyuz rocket.The launch photos were taken by up-close remote cameras and from a press and VIP viewing site nearby.See our for the latest news on the launch.