US-Russian crew blasts off successfully for International Space Station

Member of expedition to the International Space Station Russian cosmonaut Elena Serova waves during farewell ceremony as they get up into the spacecraft Soyuz TMA-14M before the launch at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014. (AP Photo/Yuri Kochetkov, Pool) (The Associated Press)

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Members of expedition to the International Space Station Russian cosmonaut Alexander Samokutyaev, bottom, Russian cosmonaut Elena Serova, top, and NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore, center, wave during a farewell ceremony as they enter the spacecraft Soyuz TMA-14M before the launch at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014. (AP Photo/Yuri Kochetkov, Pool) (The Associated Press)

The Soyuz TMA-14M rocket launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for the International Space Station on Friday, Sept. 26, 2014 carrying NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore and Russians Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova. Serova will become the fourth Russian woman to fly in space and the first Russian woman to live and work on the station. (AP Photo/NASA, Aubrey Gemignani) (The Associated Press)

BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan – A U.S.-Russian space crew has blasted off successfully for the International Space Station.

The Russian Soyuz-TMA14M spacecraft lifted off as scheduled at 2:25 a.m. Friday (2025 GMT Thursday, 4:25 p.m. EDT) from the Russian-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan. It's carrying NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore along with Russians Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova for a six-month stint at the station.

The Soyuz is set to dock at the orbiting outpost in about six hours after the launch, joining an international crew of three currently manning the station.

Serova is the first Russian woman to fly to space since 1997, and the fourth woman in the history of the Soviet and Russian space programs. Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space in 1963.