Less than 10 minutes after launch their spacecraft reached orbit. Its antennas and solar arrays were deployed shortly afterward.

With Padalka and Barratt is second-time spaceflight participant Charles Simonyi, flying under contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency. Simonyi previously flew to the station in April 2007 as a spaceflight participant with the Expedition 15 crew.

Simonyi will return to Earth with Expedition 18 crew members, Commander Mike Fincke and Flight Engineer Yury Lonchakov, in their Soyuz TMA-13 on April 7. Expedition 18 launched to the station Oct. 12.

Expedition 19 crew members will be welcomed by the Expedition 18 crew, including Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata, after their docking to the orbiting laboratory, scheduled for Saturday. Wakata launched to the station on the STS-119 mission of Discovery March 15.

He joined Expedition 18 in progress and will provide Expedition 19 with an experienced flight engineer for its increment.

Padalka, a colonel in the Russian Air Force, will command the Expedition 19 mission and also serve as Soyuz commander. He previously served as commander of Expedition 9 in 2004. During Padalka's first stay at the International Space Station, he performed four spacewalks.

Barratt will serve as a flight engineer for Expedition 19. He served as lead crew surgeon for the first Expedition crew to the station from July 1998 until he was selected as an astronaut candidate. This will be his first spaceflight.

Wakata will serve as a flight engineer for Expeditions 18, 19 and 20. Wakata will be the first resident station crew member from JAXA. He will return to Earth on STS-127.

related report
New ISS crew heads for orbital station
A Soyuz-FG carrier rocket carrying the 19th Expedition crew to the International Space Station (ISS) blasted off on Thursday from the Baikonur space center, a Russian Mission Control spokean said.

"The Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft separated from the carrier rocket at the designated time. The crew's condition is good," the official said.

The spacecraft is scheduled to dock with the orbital station on March 28.

The new crew of Commander Gennady Padalka from Russia, NASA astronaut Michael Barratt and U.S. space tourist billionaire Charles Simonyi will join Japan's Koichi Wakata, U.S. astronaut Michael Fincke and Russian Flight Engineer Yury Lonchakov.

This is Hungarian-born Simonyi's second trip into space. His current journey has cost him some $10 million more than the $25 million he paid for his 2007 visit.

Padalka and Barratt will remain on the ISS for six months, and Simonyi will be on board for ten days before returning to Earth on April 7 with Fincke and Lonchakov.

By the end of May, the ISS will be constantly manned by six astronauts.

Meanwhile, the U.S. shuttle Discovery undocked from the ISS late on Wednesday and will pass a safety inspection before heading to Earth. The spacecraft is scheduled to land on March 28 at 13:42 EDT (17.42 GMT).

Related Links
Expedition 19
Station at NASA
Station and More at Roscosmos
S.P. Korolev RSC Energia
Watch NASA TV via Space.TV
Space Station News at Space-Travel.Com

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Baikonur, Kazakhstan (AFP) March 25, 2009
The American and Russian pair set to take over the International Space Station (ISS) this week said Wednesday they felt privileged to be part of the doubling of its permanent crew.