{"id":19531,"date":"2015-12-15T22:09:51","date_gmt":"2015-12-15T14:09:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/space-station-gets-its-first-official-british-astronaut-plus-an-american-and-russian\/"},"modified":"2015-12-15T22:09:51","modified_gmt":"2015-12-15T14:09:51","slug":"space-station-gets-its-first-official-british-astronaut-plus-an-american-and-russian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/space-station-gets-its-first-official-british-astronaut-plus-an-american-and-russian\/","title":{"rendered":"Space station gets its first \u2018official\u2019 British astronaut (plus an American and Russian)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Tim
British astronaut Tim Peake gets a welcoming hug from NASA\u2019s Scott Kelly at the International Space Station. (Credit: ESA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Today the International Space Station\u2019s crew welcomed aboard its first \u201cofficial\u201d British astronaut, Tim Peake, just hours after he blasted off in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft alongside U.S. and Russian spacefliers.<\/p>\n

Peake, NASA astronaut Tim Kopra and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko were lofted into orbit from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 5:03 a.m. local time (3:03 a.m. PT). They made a brisk 6.5-hour trip to the station and were greeted by three crewmates: NASA\u2019s Scott Kelly and Russia\u2019s Mikhail Kornienko and Sergei Volkov. Kelly and Kornienko are more than halfway through a yearlong tour of duty.<\/p>\n

After a round of hugs and handshakes, the crew exchanged additional greetings with family members and VIPs via a video link. \u201cI hope you enjoyed the show,\u201d Peake told David Parker, chief executive of the U.K. Space Agency.<\/p>\n