Piloted spaceship Soyuz TMA-17 launched from Baikonur

Almaty. December 21. Kazakhstan Today - The piloted spaceship Soyuz TMA-17 was launched from Baikonur to the International Space Station (ISS), the agency reports citing RosCosmos press service.

According to the press service, the piloted spaceship Soyuz TMA-17 was launched at 03.52 Astana time from the cosmodrome Baikonur to the International Space Station with the crew: Russian Oleg Kotov, NASA astronaut Timothy Creamer and the astronaut of Japanese space agency JAXA, Soichi Noguchi.

Joining of the ship Soyuz TMA-17 with ISS is planned for December 23 at 01.54 Moscow time.

The crew will spend about half a year - until May, 2010 in ISS. The cosmonauts will perform about 40 various research experiments. They will also take part in installation of the new Russian module, which deliver a cargo transport shuttle to the space station.

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