A Russian Soyuz rocket launched into orbit late Saturday, carrying three new crewmembers toward the International Space Station.

The rocket rose from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, lofting the Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft into orbit. Liftoff came at 10:40 p.m. ET Saturday, which means it was early Sunday at the Central Asian spaceport. Onboard were an American, a Russian and a Japanese astronaut due to take up residence for four months at the orbiting outpost.

NASA TV showed the Soyuz soaring smoothly into a blue sky dotted with clouds, punching a hole through a cloud layer on its way up. It is due to dock at the station early Tuesday, at which time the three newcomers will join the existing crew of three on the space station’s Expedition 32 mission.

The new complement includes NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, and Japanese spaceflier Akihiko Hoshide.

“Unfortunately our mission is only four months I wish it would be years and years and years,” Williams said during a preflight briefing. “I’m really lucky to be flying with Yuri and Aki. I think we’re going to have a great time.”

An international milestone By coincidence, the U.S.-Russian-Japanese crew’s launch and docking is coinciding with the 37th anniversary of the world’s first international space mission: the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.

On July 15, 1975, NASA launched an Apollo capsule and the Soviet Union launched its Soyuz 19 capsule to perform the first international space docking test. The mission set the foundation for the international partnerships that have led to the $100 billion International Space Station in orbit today. [Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in Pictures]

In September, the current station crew Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin of Russia, and NASA astronaut Joe Acaba will return to Earth, and Williams will relieve Padalka as space station commander. She will be the second female space station commander in the facility’s history. (NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson was the first, in 2007.)

“I’m not good at bossing people around but my husband might say that’s not so true,” Williams joked. “If I say we’re going to do this, they all jump on it. Everybody’s also felt free to offer their two cents. I think it’s going to be really, honestly, pretty easy, and part of that is communication.”

The international crew will each be bringing a taste of home and their own cultures with them to share.

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