SpaceX launches 4 astronauts for NASA after private flight

By MARCIA DUNN
AP Aerospace Writer

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX has launched four astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA, less than two days after completing a flight chartered by millionaires. The Falcon rocket blasted off before dawn Wednesday from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. The capsule reached its destination Wednesday night, just 16 hours later. The crew includes the first Black woman making a long-term spaceflight, NASA’s Jessica Watkins. Also on board: the European Space Agency’s lone female astronaut, Samantha Cristoforetti of Italy. It’s the first time NASA has sent up a crew comprised equally of men and women.