Blast-off signals 'busy time' in space

The Soyuz craft carrying California native Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Russians Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Kornienko soared from the Baikonur cosmodrome in southern Kazakhstan.

The craft, which thundered into orbit at more than 8,000mph, will dock tomorrow with the space station, orbiting about 200 miles above the Earth.

Live pictures broadcast from the craft showed expedition chief Skvortsov smiling as a toy duck nicknamed "Quack" dangled overhead. Once the craft entered orbit, the fluffy talisman began to float, demonstrating zero gravity.

"The vehicle is performing fine," Skvortsov was heard saying after a long communications disruption due to static.

Speaking at the observation platform after lift-off, William Gerstenmaier, Nasa's associate administrator for space operations, praised the "super" launch.

"This is an extremely positive crew and they're looking forward to their work. If we get the shuttle launched next week, it will be an extremely busy time for them after they get into orbit, but they're ready to go do their work."

Caldwell Dyson, Skvortsov and Kornienko will join the Russian commander Oleg Kotov, Nasa astronaut Timothy J Creamer and Soichi Noguchi, of Japan, on board the space station.

Within three days of their arrival, a seven-person crew aboard the Shuttle Discovery will dock at the station for a 13-day mission to transfer eight tons of research equipment and cargo. In a historic development, that period will mark the first time that four women have been in space at one time.

The expedition led by Skvortsov, a seasoned military pilot who is making his maiden flight to space, will end in September, just as the US launches its last-ever shuttle flight from the Kennedy Space Centre.

With the winding down of the shuttle, the Soyuz – which launched the world's first satellite into space in 1957 – is set to take on the burden of carrying astronauts to and from the space station.