Rocket readies for blast-off

A RUSSIAN rocket set to carry a three-person US-Russian crew to the international space station was moved yesterday to a launch pad in preparation for blastoff.

The rocket will carry US astronauts Douglas Wheelock and Shannon Walker and Russia’s Fyodor Yurchikhin to the international orbiting laboratory on Wednesday for a mission lasting about six months.

The Soyuz carrier rocket began its slow roll-out to the site in southern Kazakhstan at 1am.