ESA Timelapse video showing Soyuz TMA-13M liftoff - video

This time-lapse video shows the Soyuz TMA-13M spacecraft during roll out from the MIK preparation building, raise into vertical position on the launch pad, and lift off on 28 May 2014 from the Russian Baikonour cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

After their launch, on board this Soyuz, Expedition 40/41 flight engineer Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency, Soyuz commander Max Suraev of the Russian Federal Space Agency and flight engineer Reid Wiseman of NASA, made their way to the International Space Station.

ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst enters the ISS

ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst as the hatch opens separating the Soyuz spacecraft and the International Space Station, his new home for six months.

The launch of Expedition 40/41 with Alexander Gerst, NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman and Roscosmos commander Maxim Suraev from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan took place six hours earlier.

Their spacecraft, Soyuz TMA-13M was propelled to the International Space Station at 21:57 CEST. Alexander has 100 experiments planned for his Blue Dot mission.

Credits: Roscosmos/Oleg Artemjev

Expedition 40 Preflight: Soyuz TMA-13M Launcher Rolls Out

The Soyuz TMA-13M spacecraft is rolled out to the launch pad by train on Monday, May 26, 2014, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. 

Launch of the Soyuz rocket is scheduled for May 29 and will send Expedition 40 Roscosmos commander Maxim Suraev, ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst and NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman on a five and a half month mission aboard the International Space Station.

Image Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky