The Soyuz rocket carrying South Korea's first astronaut, Yi So-yeon, launched successfully on its voyage to the International Space Station (ISS) this morning. Ms Yi and two Russian cosmonauts blasted off from Kazakhstan's Baikonur space centre at 11:16 GMT. The BBC covered the launch Live as did Sky News, however CNN only carried footage later in the day. Russia Today and NASA also covered the launch with extesive Live coverage. The 29-year-old bio-engineer will spend about 10 days in space and conduct a series of scientific tests. The launch makes South Korea the ninth Asian country to have had an astronaut in space.
Before the launch, Ms Yi had boarded the rocket flashing a thumbs-up and saying she felt "great". She was chosen from about 36,000 applicants for the mission, which is costing South Korea about $20m (£10m). Initially the back-up astronaut, she was moved up after Russian officials said the first-choice, 31-year-old Ko San, had broken space centre rules by removing a manual from the base. Ms Yi is scheduled to return to Earth on 19 April with the outgoing crew of the ISS.
Before the launch, Ms Yi had boarded the rocket flashing a thumbs-up and saying she felt "great". She was chosen from about 36,000 applicants for the mission, which is costing South Korea about $20m (£10m). Initially the back-up astronaut, she was moved up after Russian officials said the first-choice, 31-year-old Ko San, had broken space centre rules by removing a manual from the base. Ms Yi is scheduled to return to Earth on 19 April with the outgoing crew of the ISS.
1 comment:
This is wonderful.
However, I would like to wonder what the heck was going through the editor's mind at cnn.com posting a picture like that of her!!!
Regardless, this is fantastic!
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