Why It's Taking Astronauts So Long to Get to the International Space Station

— -- Talk about taking the long way.

Three astronauts are en route to the International Space Station but first they'll have to do 34 orbits of Earth to get there.

The three-person team, which includes a Russian, a Dane and a Kazakh, blasted off today on board a Soyuz rocket on a two-day journey to reach the ISS. While astronauts have taken a direct six-hour route in recent years, the Russian Federal Space Agency said it decided to switch to the traditional route over security concerns after the space station adjusted its orbit in order to dodge space junk.

When the trio arrive on Friday, they'll bring the total number of astronauts at the International Space Station to nine. The Kazakh and the Dane are set to return to Earth on Sept. 12, along with Gennady Padalka, who is the current station commander and will hand off the duty to American astronaut Scott Kelly.