Credit: NASA/Carla Cioffi

It’s one thing to watch a movie in high definition; it’s yet another thing to watch the launch of a Soyuz spacecraft.

But that’s exactly what NASA wanted to do, and they broadcasted the event in HD when the spacecraft lifted off from the Baikonur Space Center in central Kazakhstan at 02:18 Moscow Standard Time /22:18 GMT on Tuesday.

After launching in their Soyuz TMA-21 spacecraft, Expedition 27 Soyuz Commander Alexander Samokutyaev, NASA Flight Engineer Ron Garan and Russian Flight Engineer Andrey Borisenko arrived at the International Space Station April 6, docking their craft to the Poisk module on the Russian segment of the complex. A few hours after docking to the station, Samokutyaev, Garan and Borisenko were greeted by three other crewmembers on the outpost, station Commander Dmitry Kondratyev, NASA Flight Engineer Cady Coleman and European Space Agency Flight Engineer Paolo Nespoli, who have been aboard the ISS since December 2010.  They are scheduled to stay in orbit for five months.

 If you missed it, don’t worry. You can see the video here: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/hd/index.html.  Please be patient while trying to view it, giving the video a few moments to load.

NASA TV now has a full-time HD Channel available at no cost to cable and satellite service providers. Live coverage of space shuttle missions, on-orbit video of Earth captured by astronauts aboard the International Space Station, and rocket launches of advanced scientific spacecraft are among the programming offered on NASA HD. Also available are imagery from NASA’s vast array of space satellites, as well as media briefings, presentations by expert lecturers, astronaut interviews and other special events, all in the improved detail and clarity of high-definition.