SpaceX launches 4 astronauts for NASA after private flight

SpaceX has launched four astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA, less than two days after completing a flight chartered by millionaires

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- SpaceX launched four astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA on Wednesday, less than two days after completing a flight chartered by millionaires.

It’s the first NASA crew comprised equally of men and women, including the first Black woman making a long-term spaceflight, Jessica Watkins.

“This is one of the most diversified, I think, crews that we’ve had in a really, really long time," said NASA's space operations mission chief Kathy Lueders.

The astronauts were due to arrive at the space station Wednesday night, 16 hours after a predawn liftoff from Kennedy Space Center that thrilled spectators.