Updated

A Soyuz space capsule has blasted off for the International Space Station, carrying an American astronaut making his first space flight and a veteran Russian cosmonaut.

NASA's Jack Fischer and Russia's Fyodor Yurchikhin lifted off from the Russia-leased launch facility in Kazakhstan at 1:13 p.m. Thursday (0713GMT, 3:13 a.m. EDT). They will travel six hours before docking at the space station.