3 Man Soyuz crew departs for space station

A three-man crew blasted off from a space centre in southern Kazakhstan on board a Russian-made Soyuz craft for a half-year stay at the International Space Station. NASA astronaut Joseph Acaba and Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin set off from the Baikonur facility as scheduled Tuesday at 9:01 a.m. local time (0301 GMT). Russia's space agency says the craft is due to dock with the space station Thursday morning and will join the three astronauts currently staying at the orbiting laboratory. The crew will immediately begin preparation for the arrival next week of privately owned SpaceX's Dragon Capsule. It will be the first time a private company has launched space station supplies.