SpaceX launches 4 astronauts to International Space Station


SpaceX on Sunday night launched four astronauts to the International Space Station, the first operational flight of the Dragon spacecraft.
Last week, NASA certified the Dragon as the first privately owned and operated spacecraft to be used for human spaceflight.
The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with astronauts Michael Hopkins, Shannon Walker, and Victor Glover of NASA and Soichi Noguchi of Japan's JAXA space agency on board. It will take about 27.5 hours for the crew to reach the International Space Station, where they will stay for six months. The astronauts will join two Russians and one American already at the ISS.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Prince charming: Harry’s tea with King sparks royal reconciliation rumours
Talking Point Are the royals (and the UK public) ready to welcome the Duke of Sussex back in?
-
Has Israel’s Qatar strike scuppered a ceasefire?
Today’s Big Question Netanyahu ‘gambles’ on ‘overwhelming strength’ rather than diplomacy in attack on Hamas negotiation team in Doha
-
Deaf Republic: ‘an experimental epic of war and resistance’
The Week Recommends Ukrainian-American writer Ilya Kaminsky’s poetry collection is brought to the stage in this ‘enthralling’ production
-
SpaceX breaks Starship losing streak in 10th test
speed read The Starship rocket's test flight was largely successful, deploying eight dummy satellites during its hour in space
-
Rabbits with 'horns' sighted across Colorado
speed read These creatures are infected with the 'mostly harmless' Shope papilloma virus
-
Lithium shows promise in Alzheimer's study
Speed Read Potential new treatments could use small amounts of the common metal
-
Scientists discover cause of massive sea star die-off
Speed Read A bacteria related to cholera has been found responsible for the deaths of more than 5 billion sea stars
-
'Thriving' ecosystem found 30,000 feet undersea
Speed Read Researchers discovered communities of creatures living in frigid, pitch-black waters under high pressure
-
New York plans first nuclear plant in 36 years
Speed Read The plant, to be constructed somewhere in upstate New York, will produce enough energy to power a million homes
-
Dehorning rhinos sharply cuts poaching, study finds
Speed Read The painless procedure may be an effective way to reduce the widespread poaching of rhinoceroses
-
Breakthrough gene-editing treatment saves baby
speed read KJ Muldoon was healed from a rare genetic condition