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| The quartet comprise three US astronauts and one Italian |
CAPE CANAVERAL (Florida, US), April 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Three US astronauts and one Italian have blasted off from Earth for the International Space Station (ISS), which will be their home for the next several months.
The US astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines and Jessica Watkins as well as Samantha Cristoforetti, an astronaut from the European Space Agency, launched on Wednesday from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
They were on board a Dragon capsule, boosted into space by a Falcon 9 rocket.
The new crew is to replace the astronauts currently stationed on board the ISS, including the German Matthias Maurer.
The journey to the ISS from Earth takes about 15.5 hours.
“Kjell, Bob, Jessica, and Samantha will carry out research investigations that will help NASA prepare for longer duration stays on the Moon – and eventually Mars,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. — NNN-AGENCIES
