Soyuz Launches Successfully On Missions To Space

The Soyuz Russian spacecraft launched successfully twice, first last week and then today.

But the craft won’t be carrying Madonna into space, at least not any time soon.

First, the 1,712th flight of a Soyuz launch vehicle ascended Thursday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 7:41 p.m. Baikonur time (or 3:41 p.m., in Paris), according to Starsem.

Starsem, Arianespace and their Russian partners report that the governmental spacecraft was accurately placed on the target orbit. This was the seventh Soyuz family mission this year.

Then, today, a Soyuz launched with two new crew members for the space station and Anousheh Ansari, a Texas businesswoman who now holds the record as the first female space tourist. She also is the fourth civilian to pony up about $20 million for a ride into space.

But a proposal to permit pop star Madonna to sign on for a trip in 2009 was rejected by the Russian Duma, or legislature, according to wire reports.