![SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, 4 astronauts bound for space station](https://cbsnews3.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2021/04/22/fc56d805-ce0d-417d-9cbc-97069accc9c7/thumbnail/1200x630/00295cc4e5609bb6503fe5219b06a989/042221-f9.jpg)
SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, 4 astronauts bound for space station
CBSN
With improving conditions expected on and off shore, SpaceX readied a Falcon 9 rocket for a pre-dawn launch Friday to boost a Crew Dragon capsule carrying four astronauts into orbit for a one-day trip to the International Space Station.
Liftoff from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center is targeted for 5:49 a.m. EDT Friday, setting up an automated rendezvous and docking at the space station early Saturday. The SpaceX "Crew-2" flight will mark only the third launch of NASA astronauts from U.S. soil since the space shuttle's retirement 10 years ago. It is the second operational flight under NASA's Commercial Crew Program and the first to use a previously-flown first stage booster and a refurbished Crew Dragon capsule making its second flight.![](/newspic/picid-6252001-20250214202746.jpg)
Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a high-stakes meeting at this year's Munich Security conference to discuss the Trump administration's efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Vance said the U.S. seeks a "durable" peace, while Zelenskyy expressed the desire for extensive discussions to prepare for any end to the conflict.
![](/newspic/picid-6252001-20250214133557.jpg)
Washington — The Trump administration on Thursday intensified its sweeping efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce, the nation's largest employer, by ordering agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees who hadn't yet gained civil service protection - potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of workers.
![](/newspic/picid-6252001-20250214133528.jpg)
It was Labor Day weekend 2003 when Matt Scribner, a local horse farrier and trainer who also competes in long-distance horse races, was on his usual ride in a remote part of the Sierra Nevada foothills — just a few miles northeast of Auburn, California —when he noticed a freshly dug hole along the trail that piqued his curiosity.