Canadian Astronaut Chris Hadfield has slipped the surly bonds of earth for the International Space Station.

Hadfield and two other astronauts lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan just after 7:00 this morning.

Hadfield will spend five months aboard the orbiting space lab. He will be conducting some 130 experiments. One has to do with the effects cardiovascular health on aging. Professor Richard Hughson of the University of Waterloo says  Hadfield will help him and his researchers  understand the impact of stiffening arteries on blood flow to the brain.

Hadfield will become the first Canadian to command the international space station in March.