Russian-U.S. Crew Launch For Space Station

A Russian Soyuz TMA-21 rocket with the Russian-U.S. crew aboard blasts off from the Russian-leased Baikanur cosmodrome on April 5 toward the International Space Station.

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft, carrying two cosmonauts and a U.S. astronaut, has blasted off from Russia's Baikonur launch center in Kazakhstan on a mission to the International Space Station.

The predawn liftoff kicks off a mission honoring the first manned space flight by Yury Gagarin, whose historic journey took place 50 years ago this month.

The crew that launched in the Soyuz -- cosmonauts Aleksandr Samokutyayev and Andrey Borisenko, and U.S. astronaut Ron Garan -- are due to join three other crew members aboard the space station after their two-day trip from Earth.

compiled from agency reports