Mission Reports

Live coverage: Three-man crew arrives at space station

Three new space station residents blasted off Wednesday on a fast-track six-hour pursuit of the orbiting research complex, kicking off five months in space. The U.S.-Russian-Japanese space crew lifted off at 2102 GMT (5:02 p.m. EDT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, and docking occurred 0245 GMT (10:45 p.m. EDT).

Ariane 5

Photos: Ariane 5 rocket blazes into orbit

A powerful Ariane 5 rocket soared into space with a European weather satellite and Brazilian telecom platform this week, lighting up its remote French Guiana spaceport carved out of the jungle on the northern coast of South America. Check out imagery of the sunset blastoff.