April 28, 2003
On your birthday, photons that left distant stars before humans walked the Earth finally completed their journey. You began yours.
Rollout of a Soyuz TMA-2 Aboard an R7 Rocket
Birthday · April 28, 2003
A little universe, just for you
Your date.
Ready to give.
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APOD published April 28, 2003. Full image credits are on the original APOD entry below. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
It takes a big rocket to go into space. Last weekend, this huge Russian rocket was launched toward Earth-orbiting International Space Station (ISS), carrying two astronauts who will make up the new Expedition 7 crew. Seen here during rollout at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the rocket's white top is actually a Soyuz TMA-2, the most recent version of the longest serving type of human spacecraft. The base is a Russian R7 rocket, originally developed as a prototype Intercontinental Ballistic Missile in 1957. The rocket spans the width of a football field and has a fueled mass of about half a million kilograms. Russian rockets like this will be primary transportation system to the ISS while NASA studies the underlying reasons behind the recent tragic break-up of the Space Shuttle Columbia.