Credits: NASA/Joel Kowsky

A Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Florida early on Thursday, sending four astronauts on their way into low-Earth orbit.

The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft Endeavour, carrying NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen, commander; Warren Hoburg, pilot; and mission specialists UAE astronaut Sultan Alneyadi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, has now safely reached orbit.

Sixth operational human spaceflight

During their time on the orbiting laboratory, the crew will conduct over 200 science experiments and technology demonstrations in areas such as life and physical sciences to advanced materials, technology development, in-space production applications, and even student-led research.

SpaceX is conducting its sixth operational human spaceflight for NASA, and accordingly this mission is named Crew-6. The Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage, on the launch pad, was flying its very first mission, but the Dragon spacecraft is making its fourth overall flight, the most times that any Crew Dragon vehicle has flown into space. Previously this Dragon, named Endeavour, flew NASA’s Demo-2 and Crew-2 missions, as well as Axiom Space’s Ax-1 private spaceflight to and from the International Space Station.

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