And they're off! Expedition 48 astronauts take off for the International Space Station – Watch video

Image courtesy: NASA/Bill Ingalls

New Delhi: Exactly at at 9:36 pm EDT Wednesday, July 6, three astronauts were launched into space to begin their mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

The three crew members – NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, and astronaut Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency – took off in the Russian Soyuz MS-01 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The astronauts will reach the ISS after a two-day-long journey, which will signal the commencement of Expedition 48.

(Image courtesy: NASA/Bill Ingalls)

They will be joining the current residents of the ISS, NASA astronaut Jeff Williams and Flight Engineers Oleg Skripochka and Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos.

The Expedition 48 crew members will participate in a four-month-long mission aboard the ISS conducting more than 250 science investigations in fields such as biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences, and technology development.

As per NASA, Expedition 48 crew members are expected to receive and install the station’s first international docking adapter, which will accommodate future arrivals of U.S. commercial crew spacecraft. Scheduled for delivery on SpaceX’s ninth commercial resupply mission (CRS-9) to the station, the new docking port features built-in systems for automated docking and uniform measurements. That means any spacecraft may use the adapters in the future – from NASA’s new crewed and uncrewed spacecraft, developed in partnership with private industry, to international spacecraft yet to be designed.

Till date, more than 200 people from 18 countries have visited the unique microgravity laboratory that has hosted more than 1,900 research investigations from researchers in more than 95 countries.

Watch the video of the launch below:

(Video courtesy: NASA Johnson)