Picture Perfect Launch of Soyuz Spacecraft as it Leaves Earth to Dock with ISS

This beautiful image illustrates the incredible smooth launch of the -- currently exclusive -- 'taxi' to the International Space Station that three crew members representing the United States, Russia and Japan used yesterday to dock with the ISS.

NASA Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio, Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency took with them the Olympic torch that will be used to light the Olympic flame at Fisht Stadium in Sochi, Russia, to mark the start of the 2014 Winter Games.

The arrival of Mastracchio, Tyurin and Wakata brings the station's crew complement to nine. This is the first time since October 2009 that nine people have served together aboard the space station. The crew will return to its normal complement of six on Sunday, Nov. 10, when Expedition 37 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, Karen Nyberg of NASA, and Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency return to Earth.

The space station has had continuous human occupation since November 2000. In that time, it has received more than 200 visitors and a variety of international and commercial spacecraft. -- NASA