US-Russian crew of 3 blasts off to the International Space Station in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft

MOSCOW (AP) – A U.S.-Russian crew of three began a mission to the International Space Station aboard a Russian spacecraft following a successful launch Thursday.

A Soyuz booster rocket lifted off at 2:27 p.m. (9:27 a.m. GMT) from the Russia-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan to put the Soyuz MS-28 into orbit.

The spacecraft carried NASA astronaut Chris Williams and two Russian crewmates, Sergei Mikaev and Sergei Kud-Sverchkov. The craft docked at the International Space Station approximately three hours after liftoff at 5:34 p.m (12:34 p.m. GMT).

All three are expected to spend about eight months at the orbiting outpost. NASA said this is the first spaceflight for Williams, a physicist, and Mikaev, a military pilot. This is the second flight for Kud-Sverchkov.

At the International Space Station, the trio will join NASA astronauts Mike Fincke, Zena Cardman and Jonny Kim, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s astronaut Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonauts Sergei Ryzhikov, Alexei Zubritsky and Oleg Platonov.

Williams will conduct scientific research and technology demonstrations at the orbiting outpost aimed at advancing human space exploration and benefiting life on Earth, NASA said.