Russia-US crew, tourist blast off into space

A Russia-US two-man crew and the world's third space tourist blasted off from Earth on Saturday, bound for orbit and the International Space Station.
The cigar-shaped Soyuz rocket climbed into a blue morning sky from the barren steppe of Central Asia, arcing higher and higher until only a ball of flame could be seen.
"It was wonderful. It was magnificent. It was beautiful," Michael Griffin, the head of US space agency NASA, told Reuters at the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan.
On board the Russian spacecraft were US Commander William McArthur, Russian Flight Engineer Valery Tokarev, and American entrepreneur and scientist Gregory Olsen, who is due to spend about a week in orbit. The crew face a daunting 6-month stint.
Olsen, rich enough to afford a reported $20 million ticket, will spend his time in space conducting experiments. He then hitches a ride back to Earth with the outgoing US-Russian crew.
Flight controllers said the crew were doing well. A live feed showed them hunched inside the Soyuz, where the only personal touch visible was a miniature troll with a shock of pink hair dangling as if from a car dashboard.
The Soyuz is scheduled to dock with the station in two days.