A North Carolina native is on his way to the International Space Station.

Tom Marsburn -- from Statesville in Iredell County, north of Charlotte -- blasted off from Kazakhstan Wednesday morning.

It's his second time going to the International Space Station.

Marsburn and two other crew members are expected to arrive at the station by Friday. There, they will join another U.S. astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts.

The crew is expected to stay at the space station for the next five months, doing space walks and conducting experiments.