Steve Swanson, CU-Boulder grad, on way to international space station

An astronaut with ties to the University of Colorado launched beyond the reaches of Earth's atmosphere Tuesday with two Russian cosmonauts to begin a six-month mission aboard the international space station.

Steamboat Springs resident Steve Swanson joined Russians Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev aboard the Soyuz TMA-12M spacecraft that launched at 3:17 p.m. MDT from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

They were originally expected to be aboard the space station shortly after 9 p.m. MDT Tuesday, according to CU officials. But a glitch delayed the landing, and the Soyuz is now expected to dock at the station Thursday evening, according to NASA.

Swanson, who earned his bachelor of science degree in physics engineering from CU, is starting his third stay aboard the international space station.

He served as the flight engineer on the flight mission and in May will transition into the role of station commander when another crew of international astronauts joins him there.

While aboard, Swanson and his crew will be involved in dozens of experiments in the low-gravity environment, including some dealing with capillary blood flow, muscle and bone loss in space, and gravity-sensing in plants, according to a CU news release.

Two space walks are scheduled during Swanson's time on the space station, and the four-time space walk veteran has previously said he is looking forward to venturing out again.

"Getting a space walk would be fantastic," Swanson said during a NASA news conference in January. "It's a very busy time, and kind of stressful, but at the same time it's a fantastic thing to do. The views are amazing out there. It would be hard to describe because it's so different from anything else. Relaxing and just seeing the whole Earth below you is a wonderful thing."

Swanson is one of 20 U.S. astronauts with direct ties to CU, dating back to Scott Carpenter in 1962, according to the university.

Joe Tanner, a former NASA astronaut who is a senior aerospace engineering instructor at CU, formed a close friendship with Swanson while Tanner was working for the agency as a pilot and Swanson was a flight engineer.

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Steve Swanson, CU-Boulder grad, on way to international space station