Russian spacecraft Soyuz with three astronauts onboard blasted off from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan early today to the International Space Station. The Soyuz lifted off at 00:12 hrs Moscow time. The new crew members on board are Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov, Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa and American astronaut Michael. The spacecraft will dock with the ISS at 01:22 Moscow time on Friday. The crew will spend 161 days in the ISS and conduct three space walks.