Two US astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut arrived at the International Space Station today, about six hours after their Soyuz spacecraft blasted off from Kazakhstan.

Commander Alexander Misurkin of Roscosmos and flight engineers Mark Vande Hei and Joe Acaba of Nasa lifted off from the Baikonr Cosmodrome at 3:17 a.m. local time. Their spacecraft docked about six hours later aboard the International Space Station.

The crew successfully performed a fast-track transit to the station, which orbits about 250 miles (400 km) above Earth, to begin a five-month mission.

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