Russian supply rocket blasts off to space station
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Astronaut Michael Foale, left, and Cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri greet the World Economic Forum last week from the International Space Station. The Soyuz is expected to deliver supplies to them.
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MOSCOW, Russia (Reuters) -- A Russian supply ship blasted off to the International Space Station on Thursday, taking up equipment to research the effects of radiation in space ahead of a human mission to Mars, a mission control spokeswoman said.
The Progress M1-11, which lifted off at 6:58 a.m. ET (11:58 GMT) from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome in the middle of the Kazakh steppe, is scheduled to dock with the station on Saturday.
"The ship took off on schedule ... and the flight is going well," the spokeswoman said.
The vessel is delivering two dummies, nicknamed "matryoshki" or Russian dolls, to simulate humans in an experiment to probe the long-term effects of radiation on astronauts.
One will be attached to the outside of the space station and the other will send data back to Earth as it floats in space.
The research will pave the way for human travel to Mars -- one of the goals set out by U.S. President George W. Bush in ambitious space plans announced earlier this month.
Russia has been the sole launcher of manned and cargo missions to the 16-nation outpost for almost a year since the U.S. grounded its shuttle fleet after its Columbia craft disintegrated on re-entry, killing the seven astronauts aboard.
NASA said this week it thought its shuttle fleet could return to service in September. But under Bush's proposal the fleet will be retired by 2010 once the station is complete.
Until the shuttle returns, Russia will continue servicing the station. It plans to launch its next manned Soyuz craft in April, carrying a fresh crew to replace the current one, aboard the station since mid-October.
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