A Russian rocket lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Monday, carrying a crew of an American, a Russian and Japanese to the International Space Station.
This launch night in winter was a first for the Russian rocket.
The three cosmonauts of the Soyuz-TMA17 will reinforce the team already working on the orbiting laboratory to the station, bringing to five permanent members. Timothy Creamer, Soichi Nohuchi and Oleg Kotov joined American Jeff Williams and Russian Maxim Surayev, who were alone in the ISS for three weeks.
The NASA TV showed the team the thumbs up while the device was.
The Soyuz has two days of travel to its target 350 miles above Earth.
The public can send their electronic greetings via the NASA website.