An image taken from the International Space Station of a crewed Soyuz capsule launching to visit the facility on Sept. 25, 2019. (Image credit: Christina Koch/NASA)

The best view of today's crew launch turned out to be from the spacecraft's destination itself, the International Space Station .

NASA astronaut Jessica Meir, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka and United Arab Emirates spaceflight participant Hazzaa Ali Almansoori blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan today (Sept. 25) at 9:57 a.m. EDT (1457 GMT or 6:57 p.m. local time). They were bound to join a crew of six currently living and working on board the International Space Station, including Meir's astronaut training classmate, Christina Koch .

"What it looks like from @Space_Station when your best friend achieves her lifelong dream to go to space," Koch wrote in a tweet sharing the image yesterday (on Sept. 25). "Caught the second stage in progress! We can’t wait to welcome you onboard, crew of Soyuz 61!"

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Meir and Skripochka will remain on board the space station until February; their travel companion Almansoori returns to Earth in just a week, as he is a spaceflight participation. Koch will be heading home with Meir and Skripochka, completing the longest single spaceflight by a woman . She arrived in orbit on March 14.

Before becoming an astronaut, Meir trained as a biologist, and she her research has included raising a flock of geese. She has already completed a stint with NASA's underwater research program.