Korea's first astronaut has called on the two Koreas to unite and share in her triumph as she blasted off on the Soyuz TMA-12 spacecraft to the International Space Station.
An earlier picture of Yi So Yeon,the first Korean astronaut in space. Credit NASA.
The Soyuz is carrying South Korean Yi So Yeon and Russian cosmonauts Sergei Volkov and Oleg Kononenko on their two-day journey.
"The two Koreas are at one," said Yi to news agency Itar-Tass "and I want the people of the North to share the triumph of my mission."
"It's amazing! It's fantastic!," said Sim Eunsup, director of the Korean Aerospace Research Institute, as he left the viewing platform following the confirmation that the spacecraft had entered orbit successfully.
Yi, a bio-engineer, will conduct 18 scientific experiments during the 12-day mission, she replaced engineering student Ko San who was stood down from the mission after officials revealed he had breached rules by taking out training manuals from the Star City training base.
Yi's commander, Volkov also made his own piece of history by making up the first dynasty in space. Volkov's father was a three time cosmonaut for the Soviet Union and was on hand to offer his son some advice at the launch, "There is small wind outside so you'll be slightly rocked at the launch pad, but it's normal," he said to his son.
The rocket carrying the Soyuz spacecraft took off from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, which is leased by the Kazakh government to Russia.
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