SpaceX sends four astronauts into orbit for the second time in a month

Enlarge / A Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft launch NASA's Crew-4 mission early on Wednesday morning. (credit: Trevor Mahlmann)

4:45 am ET Wednesday Update: Beneath a starry Florida sky on Wednesday morning, a Falcon 9 rocket streaked spaceward carrying four astronauts. A few minutes later Commander Kjell Lindgren, Pilot Bob Hines, and Mission Specialists Jessica Watkins and Samantha Cristoforetti were safely in orbit. The Falcon 9 first stage, making its fourth flight, soon landed in the center of a drone ship.

All in all, it was SpaceX's seventh human spaceflight in less than two years, and its fifth crew mission for NASA to the International Space Station. This launch came just 19 days after the company's previous Crew Dragon flight, of the Axiom-1 mission, on April 8.

Shortly after reaching orbit the mission's commander, Lindgren, thanked the teams at SpaceX that developed the Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket for the smooth ride to space. "We're feeling great, and looking forward to the view," he radioed back down to Earth.