The Italian astronaut who named his mission 'to fly'

Space · Published 9 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Experience the high-stakes transition from Earth's gravity to the vacuum of space. This footage captures the 2013 launch of the Soyuz spacecraft, documenting the precise moments of liftoff and the arrival of a new crew at the International Space Station.

The video captures the launch of the Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on May 28, 2013, at 20:31:24 GMT.

Luca Parmitano of the ESA, NASA's Karen Nyberg, and Fyodor Yurchikhin, who led the Russian Soyuz, made up the team. Parmitano named his mission 'Volare' to represent the search for new frontiers. The spacecraft reached orbit nine minutes after liftoff and docked with the Rassvet module in under six hours.

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