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ALMATY, Kazakhstan – A three-man crew blasted off from a space center in southernKazakhstan Tuesday morning on board a Russian-made Soyuz craft fora four-and-half-month stay at the International Space Station. NASA astronaut Joseph Acaba and Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalkaand Sergei Revin set off from the Baikonur facility as scheduled at9:01 a.m. local time (0301 GMT). Russia's space agency says the craft is due to dock with the spacestation Thursday morning Moscow time and will join the threeastronauts currently staying at the orbiting laboratory. The crew, which is being commanded by retired 53-year old RussianAir Force Col. Padalka, will immediately get to work preparing forthe arrival next week of privately owned SpaceX's Dragon Capsule.It will be the first time a private company has launched spacestation supplies. The space station is currently occupied by Russian cosmonaut OlegKononenko, NASA astronaut Don Pettit and Holland's Andre Kuipers. Padalka is a seasoned space traveler, having spent a total of 585days in space on three previous missions on board the now-defunctMir station and the current International Space Station. Inglewood,California-native Acaba, who turns 45 on Thursday, on the day thatSoyuz is due to dock, makes his second venture into space after hismaiden orbital voyage on the shuttle in 2009. Revin, 46, is makinghis first trip to space. Until NASA either brings a new craft online or private companiesare able to arrange manned trips to the orbiting station, theSoviet-designed Soyuz spacecraft will remain the only means todeliver crews to the orbiting outpost. The Russian space program has been blighted by a string oftechnical glitches in the recent past, raising questions over itsdependability. Tuesday's launch had been pushed back by two months due todepressurization of the spacecraft's descent module during theground testing phase. It was the second significant postponement ofa manned Russian launch in the space of a year. A Russian Mars moon probe crashed to Earth in January in what thenation's space agency described as the result of cosmic radiation. That came only weeks after the crash of a communications satelliteand the crash in August of a supply ship destined for the spacestation. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Woven Lanyard Manufacturer , China Custom Keychain Lanyard for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Neck Strap Lanyard.
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