Russian Soyuz Spacecraft blasted-off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan

A Russian Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft carrying three astronauts including Sunita Williams, the Indian-American astronaut, took-off for the international space station on 15 July 2012 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Soyuz launch marked the 37th anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project that opened the door to US-Russian cooperation in space science. The Soyuz spacecraft is likely to remain docked to the International Space Station throughout Expedition 32 to serve as an emergency escape vehicle.

Three astronauts on board including Sunita Williams, Russian Soyuz Commander Yuri Malenchenko and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency flight engineer Akihiko Hoshide will take two days to reach to the International space station where they will join Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin and NASA astronaut Joe Acaba, who have already been in the International Space Station since 17 May 2012.

The six crew members will work together for about two months as Acaba,  Padalka and Revin are scheduled to return to Earth on 17 September 2012. Williams, Malenchenko and Hoshide will return to the Earth in mid-November 2012.

NASA’s space shuttle programme came to an end in July 2011, which left US astronauts dependent on Russian Soyuz spacecrafts for ferrying to the  International Space Station.

Sunita Williams

Sunita Williams, the Indian-American astronaut, was born on 19 September 1965 in Euclid, Ohio and was raised in Massachusetts in US. She completed her B.S in Physical Science from US Naval Academy in 1987, while M.S in Engineering Management from Florida Institute of Technology in 1995. She joined NASA in June 1998.

Previously she served as a flight engineer on board the International Space Station. She launched with the crew of STS-116 on 9 December 2006, docking with the station on 11 December 2006. During her trip to the space as a member of the Expedition-14 crew, Williams created a world record for females with four spacewalks totaling 29 hours and 17 minutes. (Astronaut Peggy Whitson subsequently broke the record in 2008 with her five total spacewalks). Williams also holds the record for being the first female to have spent 195 days in space.