Three NASA astronauts, the Americans Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn and Kayla Barron, are joined by German Matthias Maurer sent by ESA.
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The Falcon 9 rocket launched at 21:03 local time (today at 3:03 CET). The start was until the last moment was uncertain due to bad weather. Astronauts should arrive on the ISS after 22 hours of flight on Friday at 1:10 CET.
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The launch of the rocket, originally scheduled for the end of October, was postponed several times due to bad weather and also the unspecified health problems of one of the astronauts. Due to the delay on the ISS, they did not manage to take turns with another four-member crew, which left the station on Monday. The station is currently inhabited by two Russians and one American.
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This is the third operational mission on the ISS that SpaceX provides for NASA. This is the fifth time that Elon Muska’s company has brought people into space.
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