The Russian cargo ship drives to the space station, which is loaded with two and a half tons of supplies and equipment

A Russian Progress cargo ship took off from Kazakhstan on a Soyuz booster late Sunday and carried two and a half tons of supplies and equipment for the International Space Station. The take-off from location 31 in the Baikonur Cosmodrome took place at 11:45 p.m. under a gloomy, cloudy sky. EST (Monday, 10:45 am local time) when the core stage and strap-on boosters of the Soyuz 2.1a booster ignited with a rush of flaming fumes.