WATCH LIVE: NASA SpaceX Crew-5 Launch

SpaceX launched a Crew-5 mission to the International Space Station on Wednesday afternoon.

The four crew members — astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada of NASA, astronaut Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and cosmonaut Anna Kikina of the Russian Roscosmos — were those aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, which is named Endurance.

The Crew-5 spacecraft launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The spacecraft is scheduled to dock at the ISS around 5 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 6.

The spaceflight marked a historic moment, as Mann will not only become the first Native American woman ever to travel to space, but also as the first woman to take on as mission commander for a SpaceX mission.

After the launch, the Crew Dragon spacecraft will separate from the SpaceX rocket that boosts it to orbit and begin a slow, precise trek to the ISS, which orbits about 200 miles above the Earth’s surface.



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Ciara Wells

Ciara Wells is the Evening Digital Editor at WTOP. She is a graduate of American University where she studied journalism and Spanish. Before joining WTOP, she was the opinion team editor at a student publication and a content specialist at an HBCU in Detroit.

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