On September 25, a Russian Soyuz-FG booster rocket blasted off from its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, bound for the International Space Station (ISS). Aboard the rocket was the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft, which, in turn, was carrying ISS Expedition 61 crew members Jessica Meir of NASA and Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos, as well as Hazzaa Ali Almansoori of the United Arab Emirates. This launch was notable, as it was well-covered by photographers both on the ground and in orbit, as astronauts aboard the ISS were able to look down and capture images of their approaching colleagues as they climbed into the sky, accelerating to approximately 17,000 mph (27,350 kph).