<p>Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX launched four more astronauts on a flight to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA on Wednesday, including a medical doctor turned spacewalker and a geologist specializing in Martian landslides.</p>.<p>The SpaceX launch vehicle, consisting of a two-stage Falcon 9 rocket topped with a Crew Dragon capsule dubbed Freedom, lifted off with its crew of four at 3:52 am EDT (0752 GMT) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.</p>.<p>If all goes according to plan, the three US astronauts and a European Space Agency (ESA) crewmate from Italy will reach the space station after a 17-hour flight and dock around 8:15 pm EDT (0015 GMT Thursday) to begin a six-month science mission orbiting some 250 miles (420 km) above Earth.</p>.<p>The liftoff was carried live on a NASA webcast, which showed the Falcon 9 ascending from the launch tower as its nine Merlin engines roared to life in billowing clouds of vapor and a reddish fireball that lit up the pre-dawn sky.</p>.<p>The four astronauts were seen strapped into the pressurized cabin of their capsule and seated calmly in their helmeted white-and-black spacesuits moments before launch.</p>.<p>The mission, designated Crew 4, is the fourth full-fledged ISS crew NASA has launched aboard a SpaceX vehicle since the private rocket venture founded by Musk, also owner of electric carmaker Tesla Inc, began flying US space agency astronauts in 2020.</p>.<p>In all, SpaceX has launched six previous human spaceflights over the past two years. </p>.<p><strong>Check out the latest videos from <i data-stringify-type="italic">DH</i>:</strong></p>
<p>Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX launched four more astronauts on a flight to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA on Wednesday, including a medical doctor turned spacewalker and a geologist specializing in Martian landslides.</p>.<p>The SpaceX launch vehicle, consisting of a two-stage Falcon 9 rocket topped with a Crew Dragon capsule dubbed Freedom, lifted off with its crew of four at 3:52 am EDT (0752 GMT) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.</p>.<p>If all goes according to plan, the three US astronauts and a European Space Agency (ESA) crewmate from Italy will reach the space station after a 17-hour flight and dock around 8:15 pm EDT (0015 GMT Thursday) to begin a six-month science mission orbiting some 250 miles (420 km) above Earth.</p>.<p>The liftoff was carried live on a NASA webcast, which showed the Falcon 9 ascending from the launch tower as its nine Merlin engines roared to life in billowing clouds of vapor and a reddish fireball that lit up the pre-dawn sky.</p>.<p>The four astronauts were seen strapped into the pressurized cabin of their capsule and seated calmly in their helmeted white-and-black spacesuits moments before launch.</p>.<p>The mission, designated Crew 4, is the fourth full-fledged ISS crew NASA has launched aboard a SpaceX vehicle since the private rocket venture founded by Musk, also owner of electric carmaker Tesla Inc, began flying US space agency astronauts in 2020.</p>.<p>In all, SpaceX has launched six previous human spaceflights over the past two years. </p>.<p><strong>Check out the latest videos from <i data-stringify-type="italic">DH</i>:</strong></p>