First Dane in space begins long trip to repositioned ISS

September 02, 2015 21:39

The first Dane in space accompanied by 26 custom-made figurines from Danish toymaker Lego blasted off from Kazakhstan today as part of a three-man team on an unusually long two-day mission to the International

Space Station.

The trip by the Soyuz spacecraft is scheduled to last two days instead of the usual fast-track six hours since the ISS has raised its orbit to avoid space debris.

The trio launched on schedule at 0437 GMT from the same launchpad in Kazakhstan used by Yuri Gagarin on his historic entry into the cosmos in 1961.

"The crew is doing well, everything is in order onboard," relayed mission control.

Veteran cosmonaut Sergei Volkov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos is leading a team that also includes first-time flyers Aidyn Aimbetov from Kazakhstan's space agency and Denmark's Andreas Mogensen of the European Space Agency.

They are expected to dock with the ISS on Friday at 07:42 GMT.

Most recent launches including the latest in July have used a six-hour approach to the ISS, orbiting the Earth four times, which is less gruelling for astronauts.

The two-day approach, orbiting Earth 34 times, was the norm until 2013.

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