Soyuz MS-13 to space station on 50th anniversary of moon landing

The Soyuz-MS 13 spacecraft, carrying a three-member crew, blasted off to the International Space Station on Saturday on the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing by astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. The rocket lifted off atop a bed of fire from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, carrying NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan, Luca Parmitano of ESA (European Space Agency) and Alexander Skvortsov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos.

The mission will be Parmitano's second trip to the space station and Skvortsov's third trip to the space. After completing the six-hour journey to the International Space Station (ISS), the crew is expected to have a busy schedule both in and outside the spacecraft.