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Soyuz space capsule carrying American, Russian blasts off

Associated Press
Published | Updated

U.S. astronaut Jack Fischer, above, and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, crew members of the mission to the International Space Station, ISS, wave near the rocket prior the launch of Soyuz-FG rocket at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Thursday, April 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Kirill Kudryavtsev, Pool) (The Associated Press)

Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, member of the main crew to the International Space Station (ISS), gestures to his relatives from a bus prior the launch of Soyuz-FG rocket at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Thursday, April 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky) (The Associated Press)

Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, crew member of the mission to the International Space Station, ISS, waves near the rocket prior the launch of Soyuz-FG rocket at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Thursday, April 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Kirill Kudryavtsev, Pool) (The Associated Press)

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.