Lt Col Marcos Pontes has become the first Brazilian to go into space after a successful launch aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket from Baykonur.
He will spend nine days on the International Space Station while a Russian and a US colleague accompanying him will stay for six months. Col Pontes took with him a Brazilian flag and a football shirt - to help, he said, his team in the World Cup.
His father, 84, was at the launch with other relatives and friends. They applauded and cheered afterwards, watching video from an onboard camera at the ex-Soviet base Russia leases in Kazakhstan.
“I am very emotional,” said his wife Fatima, with tears in her eyes. “I cannot even explain how I feel right now. I am very, very happy.” The launch was broadcast live on television in Brazil.
Vyacheslav Davidenko, spokesman for Russia’s Roskosmos space agency, told AFP news agency that the new astronaut would undoubtedly become a national hero in Brazil.
“Marcos Pontes will allow his country to join the club of space powers,” he said.
[ SOURCE: BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | First Brazilian goes into space ]
