A Russian manned Soyuz TMA-16M has launched into Space on a Soyuz-FG rocket carrying two Russian cosmonauts and an American astronaut, their destination, the International Space Station at 19:42 UTC today, March 27th 2015.
Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Korniyenko and NASA astronaut Scott Kelly will spend an entire year on the orbiting laboratory whilst Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka also onboard the Soyuz will return home in October of this year.
This will be the first time crews have spent such a long time onboard the ISS as they take part in studies to see the effects of Space on humans, crucial for future missions to Mars where mission durations will be lengthy.
