NASA SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launches

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission successfully launched a few seconds after 12 p.m. Wednesday.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket topped by a Dragon spacecraft took off at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Hours ahead of the launch, NASA shared a video of the crew smiling and waving in their spacesuits.

Led by Commander Nicole Aunapu Mann, the team of four will spend six months at the International Space Station’s microgravity laboratory.

When they arrive, there will be a brief handover period with members of the Crew-4 mission. 

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Launched on April 27, Crew-4 is expected to splashdown off the coast of Florida later this month.

Today’s SpaceX launch comes shortly after NASA confirmed it had tapped Elon Musk’s private company to reinvigorate the Hubble mission.

Calling the partnership “an exciting example of the innovative approaches NASA is exploring,” NASA Chief of Science Thomas Zurbuchen pledged to continue supporting “the most robust, superlative science missions possible.”

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Viewers can watch footage of the takeoff and commentary on the flight on NASA’s website.