Russian-US crew blasts off for space station

A Russian rocket carrying two cosmonauts and an American astronaut to the international space station streaked into orbit today – another crew rotation in a Russian space vehicle filling in for US space shuttles.

For Russians Salizhan Sharipov and Yuri Shargin and American Leroy Chiao, it was the first mission in a Soyuz spacecraft – breaking the nearly 30-year tradition of having at least one crewman with previous experience in piloting the capsule.