SpaceX's spacecraft departs with four passengers, Elon Musk's company joins ISS mission

Elon Musk's company SpaceX on Wednesday launched a spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) in Florida. The spacecraft carries a Russian cosmonaut, two Americans and one Japanese. This is the first time in 20 years that a Russian astronaut has embarked on a journey from the US. That too when the level of relations between the two countries has gone down considerably due to the Ukraine war. 

Astronauts depart from Kennedy Space Center

The Crew Dragon capsule carrying the four astronauts took off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The 23-storey Falcon Nine rocket will take this capsule to space. Nine minutes after launch, the rocket brought the capsule to the initial orbit. The capsule carrying all the four passengers will reach the International Space Station in 29 hours. On Thursday evening, the mission members will start working at an altitude of 420 km from the earth. 

SpaceX dispatches astronauts from three countries

In May 2020, Tesla owner Elon Musk started sending people to low altitudes in space. Two years later, Musk's company SpaceX has sent four astronauts from three countries to the ISS. Nicole Aunapu Mann (45) is leading this crew of passengers. She is a former US Air Force fighter pilot. She is also the first female passenger to sit in the commander's seat of a spacecraft. While there is Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina (38). She works at the Russian space agency Roscosmos.