A Russian Soyuz capsule carrying NASA astronaut Jack Fischer, 43, and veteran Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, 58, took off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Thursday at 1:13 p.m. local time (0713 UTC).

They reached orbit nine minutes later. A NASA video showed stuffed animals on a string suspended in zero gravity.

Fischer and Yurchikhin were scheduled to arrive at the ISS six hours and 10 minutes later. The space station orbits about 250 miles (400 kilometers) above the Earth.

They will join Russia's Oleg Novitskiy, France's Thomas Pesquet and NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, the current commander of the space station.

It is the first trip to space for Fischer, who said before departure his greatest concern was using the toilet in zero gravity.

"It's all about suction, it's really difficult," Fischer said in a NASA interview before launch. "You just can't train for that on the ground, so I approach my space-toilet activities with respect, preparation and a healthy dose of sheer terror."

Two days before the launch, NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik shared a time-lapse video of the Soyuz rocket being transported to the launch site.

Yurchikhin is on his fifth mission. Station commander Peggy Whitson, 57, is on her third long-term mission. She is the first female commander of the space station and NASA's most experienced astronaut.

On Monday, Whitson is set to break the 534-day record for cumulative time in space for a US astronaut.

Two days after Fischer and Yurchikhin dock at the ISS the Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo craft launched earlier this week from Florida will arrive to resupply the station.

"Cygnus will deliver experiments supporting research into cancer-fighting drugs, semiconductor crystal growth and atmospheric reentry conditions," NASA said.

The three astronauts currently at the station have been in space for more than 150 days and are scheduled to return to Earth in June.

Yurchikhin and Fischer's mission at the station lasts until September.

Happy birthday, ISS! The International Space Station at 20 A 19,000 kilo building block The first module of the International Space Station was sent into orbit 20 years ago. It was the Russian-made Zarya, a "Functional Cargo Block" — also known as FGB. Zarya came in at 19,000 kilograms (41,000 pounds) and was 12 meters (39 feet) long. It was commissioned and paid for by America and built by a Russian space company. It was the start of two decades of international cooperation.

Happy birthday, ISS! The International Space Station at 20 Larger than a six-bedroom house The International Space Station is home to an international crew of six people, who also work there. It travels at a speed of five miles per second (8kps), orbiting Earth every 90 minutes. Eight solar arrays provide power to the station and make it the second brightest object in the night sky after the moon. You don't need a telescope to see it.

Happy birthday, ISS! The International Space Station at 20 Expedition 1 This was the ISS's first long-term crew: American astronaut William Shepherd (center) and his two Russian fellow workers, cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko (left) and Sergei Krikalev (right). They moved into the ISS on November 2, 2000, and stayed for 136 days.

Happy birthday, ISS! The International Space Station at 20 Up to one year On average, space station crews, also known as expeditions, stay in space for about five and a half months. Some crew members, however, have broken that record — for example, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly (photo) and Roscosmos cosmonaut, Mikhail Kornienko. They lived and worked in space for a whole year.

Happy birthday, ISS! The International Space Station at 20 Multinational This is Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield strumming his guitar on the ISS at Christmas 2012. Since 2000, crew members and Space Flight Participants (self-financed space tourists) have come from 18 different countries. The most have come from the USA and Russia. Other teams have included people from Japan, the Netherlands, Italy, France, Germany, Brazil and South Africa.

Happy birthday, ISS! The International Space Station at 20 Shuttle bus Crew members and supplies arrive at the ISS via transfer vehicles and space freighters. This photo shows space shuttle Atlantis, which operated until 2011, docking onto the space station. These days, astronauts arrive at the ISS in a Soyuz capsule.

Happy birthday, ISS! The International Space Station at 20 Out for a walk There have been more than 210 spacewalks — "EVA" in astronaut terms — at the ISS since 2000. This photo shows astronaut Mike Hopkins on a spacewalk on December 24, 2013.

Happy birthday, ISS! The International Space Station at 20 Extraordinary exterior The ISS has several robotic arms. This one, Canadarm2, is 57.7 feet (17.58 meters) long when fully extended, and has seven motorized joints. It can lift 220,000 pounds (100 tons), which is the weight of a space shuttle orbiter. This photo shows astronaut Stephen K. Robinson anchored to Canadarm2's foot restraint.

Happy birthday, ISS! The International Space Station at 20 Blue Dot mission Crew members spend about 35 hours per week conducting research. On his first mission, dubbed "Blue Dot," German ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst observed and analyzed changes to the human body that occur in microgravity. Gerst's second mission at the ISS started in June 2018. In October 2018, he became the first German astronaut to command the ISS.

Happy birthday, ISS! The International Space Station at 20 Back home When their time at the ISS is over, astronauts are taken away in a Soyuz capsules. They fall to Earth with a parachute to ease their landing. Welcome home! Author: Brigitte Osterath



cw/sms (AFP, AP