Posted: Fri, Apr 2, 2010, 7:45 AM ET (1145 GMT)
A Soyuz spacecraft carrying three new crewmembers for the International Space Station lifted off early Friday. The Soyuz rocket launched at 12:04 am EDT (0404 GMT) Friday and placed the Soyuz TMA-18 into orbit nine minutes later. On board the spacecraft are Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Kornienko and NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson, who will join the three people currently on the station when the Soyuz docks with the station early Sunday. The launch took place under tight security in reaction to two subway bombings in Moscow on Monday.

Related Links:

•  SPACE.com article
•  CBS News/Spaceflight Now article
•  NASASpaceFlight.com article
•  Reuters article
•  NASA press release