The latest Russian Soyuz spacecraft is blasting towards the International Space Station.

The rocket carrying three crewmembers, including a U.S. astronaut, lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan this morning amid frigid temperatures.

One NASA spokesman says conditions were similar to the North Pole.
The trio are expected to arrive at the ISS on Friday where they will join another U.S. astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts.

They are expected to stay for the next five months, completing several spacewalks and working on experiments in the laboratory.

Since the U.S. shut down its space shuttle program, the Soyuz rocket is the only spacecraft capable of sending humans into orbit.