New crew flies to the International Space Station

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launched from Florida early Friday morning with an international crew bound for the International Space Station (ISS). On board the Crew Dragon capsule, named Freedom, are two NASA astronauts, a Frenchwoman from the European Space Agency, and a Russian cosmonaut.

This is the Crew-12 mission, which will last approximately eight months and focus on scientific research in microgravity conditions.

The commander is experienced astronaut Jessica Meir, who has already completed the first-ever female spacewalk. The crew is scheduled to dock with the ISS after a roughly 34-hour flight.

The astronauts will conduct experiments in the fields of medicine, biology, and plant cultivation, many of which are related to preparations for the Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the Moon and later to Mars. NASA has also confirmed that it plans to keep the ISS in operation until at least 2030.

(reuters, mja)