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Article Images
Launch day: Thursday 25 April 2002
 
25 April 2002

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Roberto Vittori dons spacesuit at Baikonour
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April's scheduled Soyuz launch - a 'taxi flight' to the International Space Station - will carry with it a European astronaut on his maiden voyage into orbit. For Italian Roberto Vittori, the launch will mark a literal high point in his career so far. And although has never been in space before, he will be bringing a wealth of flying experience to the Marco Polo mission.

Credits: ESA/ASI-S. CORVAJA
 
 
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A successful launch for the Marco Polo mission
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The Marco Polo flight and its three-strong crew thundered into the midday skies in a perfect lift-off from the wide open plains of Baikonur, Kazakhstan on Thursday 25 April 2002, at 12:26 local time (06:26 GMT).

Credits: ESA/ASI - S.Corvaja
 
 
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Marco Polo mission crew going up to the Soyuz capsule
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  HI-RES JPEG (Size: 737 kb)
April's scheduled Soyuz launch - a 'taxi flight' to the International Space Station - will carry with it a European astronaut on his maiden voyage into orbit. For Italian Roberto Vittori, the launch will mark a literal high point in his career so far. And although has never been in space before, he will be bringing a wealth of flying experience to the Marco Polo mission.

Credits: ESA/ASI/Aeronautica Militare
 
 
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Last checks after Marco Polo crew dons spacesuit at Baikonour
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April's scheduled Soyuz launch - a 'taxi flight' to the International Space Station - will carry with it a European astronaut on his maiden voyage into orbit. For Italian Roberto Vittori, the launch will mark a literal high point in his career so far. And although has never been in space before, he will be bringing a wealth of flying experience to the Marco Polo mission.

Credits: ESA/ASI-S. CORVAJA
 
 
Mission reports
Days 9 & 10: Final preparations for return to EarthDay 8: Nelson Mandela calls the Space StationDay 7: Starting preparations for returnDay 6: Inflight call with ProdiDay 5: Experiments continueDay 4: First full day on the ISSDay 3: Docking and ingressDay 2: Chasing the ISS in orbitPre-launch photo report
Related articles
Successful lift-off for Italian on first mission into space
Related links
Vittori's missionvideo  Marco Polo mission videos
 
 
 
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