Soyuz rocket blasts off with 3-man crew

Three-stage Soyuz booster launches at 8:16 a.m. EST (1316 GMT) to deliver the Soyuz TMA-03M into orbit with NASA's Don Pettit, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers to become members of Expedition 30 aboard the International Space Station.

See our Mission Status Center for the latest news on the launch.

Photo credit: RSC Energia