Launched into space were space station commander, Peggy Whitson, the first woman ever to lead an ISS mission, along with veteran cosmonaut, Yuri Malenchenko and Malaysian astronaut, Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor. Whitson, with Malenchenko as flight engineer, will host up to three visiting shuttle crews along with a series of rotating crewmembers during their six-month mission.

Their Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch site on the steppes of Kazakhstan.

A new connecting module, the European Space Agency''s Columbus laboratory, the first piece of Japan''s three-segment Kibo laboratory and a robotic arm addition are slated to arrive during Expedition 16, which is the mission''s description.

Europe''s first unmanned cargo ship, dubbed Jules Verne, is also due at the ISS during the mission.

Observers are describing the programme as a pinnacle of the ISS programme.

Whitson and Malenchenko will replace the station''s current Expedition 15 commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and flight engineer Oleg Kotov.

Yurchikhin and Kotov will return to Earth on Oct. 21 after completing a six-month spaceflight. Shukor lands with the Expedition 15 crew after his own 11-day space flight, during which he plans to perform a series of experiments and observe the Earth. Shukor said he was honored to be chosen from the initial 11,000 applicants to serve as Malaysia''s first astronaut, or "angkasawan."

Shukor, a 35-year-old orthopedic surgeon, also hopes to practice his Muslim faith while in orbit during the final days of the holy month of Ramadan.

Shukor and the Expedition 16 crew are due to dock at the ISS Friday at 10:52 a.m. EDT (1452 GMT), with Malenchenko serving as Soyuz commander during the two-day space flight.

Meanwhile the seven-astronaut crew of NASA''s STS-120 mission rehearsed plans for an Oct. 23 launch aboard Discovery at the agency''s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The 14-day mission, led by female shuttle commander and veteran astronaut, Pamela Melroy, will deliver the Harmony connecting node to the ISS and lay the foundation for future international laboratories.

The shuttle flight also marks the first time two spacecraft commanded by female astronauts will fly at the same time.

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