"Zvezda" is in orbit!

The Russian Service Module (a.k.a., Zvezda) appears to have successfully been lofted into orbit atop a Proton launch vehicle that took off just short of midnight, local Houston time, from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. I witnessed the event from the Houston Mission Control Center. At last report, the SM solar arrays had successfully deployed, striking yet another contingency off the list.

The SM now begins a period of testing as it flies to catch up to the rest of the station, for a docking later this month (26 July, if memory serves). Once that happens, the work of making the ISS a reality *really* begins.

Cheers...