ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst in front of the Soyuz MS-09 rocket at Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, that will launch him into space on his second mission to the International Space Station.
The Soyuz launcher delivers millions of horsepower to reach an orbital speed of 28 800 km/h. After the engines ignite, they will propel the crew 1640 km in less than 10 minutes – averaging a 50 km/h increase in speed every second.