Updated April 21, 2017 08:15:04

A first-time astronaut didn't hold back when describing the beauty of space to his family on his first phone call home.

US astronaut Jack Fischer, 43, told his wife the journey to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan was "a burrito of awesomeness smothered in awesome sauce".

"It's so beautiful," he said.

Mr Fischer also had some comforting words for his mother.

"Mum, it's like me being in Texas, depending on where we are going around the Earth, I'll be just as close," he said.

"I can still call you. So no need to miss me."

Prior to launch, the rookie flier said he thought his biggest challenge would be learning how to use the station's zero-gravity toilet, a difficult task that relies on suction.

Mr Fischer shared the ride into space with 58-year-old Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, who has made four previous space flights, in a Russian Soyuz capsule that lifted off in Kazakhstan at 1:13pm (local time) with a rare empty third seat.

Russia is scaling back space station staffing until its long-delayed science laboratory is flown to the orbiting outpost next year.

Station commander to set space record

Photo: The Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft blasts off to the International Space Station from the launchpad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. (Reuters: Shamil Zhumatov)

Mr Fischer and Mr Yurchikhin reached the $US100 billion ($133 billion) space station, which orbits about 400 kilometres above Earth on schedule about six hours after blast off.

About two hours later, hatches between the Soyuz capsule and station opened, and Mr Fischer and Mr Yurchikhin floated into the waiting arms of station commander Peggy Whitson and her crew.

Ms Whitson, 57, in the midst of her third long-duration mission, is due on Monday to beat the 534-day record for cumulative time spent in space by a US astronaut.

She is expected to receive a congratulatory phone call on Monday from US President Donald Trump, NASA said.

Ms Whitson, who flew to the station in November along with Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, will remain aboard with Mr Fischer and Mr Yurchikhin until September.

Photo: A Russian Soyuz capsule prepares to dock at the International Space Station. (Reuters)

Reuters

Topics: spacecraft, space-exploration, astronomy-space, science-and-technology, kazakhstan, russian-federation, united-states

First posted April 21, 2017 07:43:30