Russia-US crew and tourist set off into space

A russia-US two-man crew and the world’s third space tourist blasted off from Earth on Saturday, bound for the International Space Station. On board 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. 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 crew. Russia presently bears the responsibility for ferrying people and supplies to the $100-billion station after NASA grounded its shuttle fleet in July, having failed to fix a technical problem that killed seven astronauts in 2003. —Reuters