Soyuz Craft Blasts Off For ISS

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft with three astronauts on board has blasted off for the International Space Station.

The spacecraft lifted off from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrone in Kazakhstan as planned and is due to dock with the ISS on December 23.

The three astronauts, a Russian American and Japanese, will join a U.S.-Russian duo who have manned the multi-billion-dollar station since October.