US- Russian Astronaut Team Leave For International Space Station

Three astronauts- one from U.S. and two from Russia- left for the International Space Station Tuesday, NASA announced.

Leaving all political turmoil behind, Steve Swanson of NASA and Soyuz Commander Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 5:17 p.m. EDT Tuesday or 3:17 a.m. local time, Wednesday.

Some ten minutes after the launch, the craft entered the designated orbit and was expected to reach ISS in six hours. However, problems with steering maneuvers delayed docking time. The crew is now expected to arrive at the ISS Thursday, according to media reports.

"The crew is in no danger. The Soyuz (is) equipped with plenty of consumables to go even beyond the next two days, should that be become necessary. Nobody expects that that will be the case," Rob Navias, mission commentator said during a NASA Television broadcast, Reuters reports.

The new crew will join Expedition 39 commander Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and team to conduct experiments on the ISS. Wakata is the first Japanese to command the ISS.

"[The experiments]include looking at how the microgravity environment affects the body's ability to fight infection; trying to grow healthy, tasty produce in space; and testing a new laser communications package," the agency said in a press statement.

For Skvortsov, the mission will be the second time that he gets to celebrate his birthday in space.

"I had my 44th birthday party in orbit, and this time I will celebrate my 48th birthday up there too. It has become a kind of tradition by now. When I turned 44 the first thing I saw in the morning was a Birthday card from the American crew members. It is a gift I treasure very much and I keep it," Skvortsov said, Russia Today reported.