Russia Launches Cargo Ship With Supplies For Space Station

An unmanned Russian cargo ship blasted off Thursday with supplies, equipment and gifts for the international space station, an official said.

Mission Control spokesman Valery Lyndin said the ship is carrying about 2.5 short tons of oxygen, water and food for the crew - U.S. astronaut Garrett Reisman and Russian cosmonauts Sergei Volkov and Oleg Kononenko.

Lyndin said Progress M-64 lifted off as scheduled early Thursday morning from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The ship is set to dock at the station Saturday.