SpaceX and NASA send international crew to ISS

The combined NASA-SpaceX mission launched into space on Saturday, with four astronauts aboard the Dragon craft en route to the International Space Station (ISS).

The quartet should arrive at the ISS sometime on Sunday, and will replace four astronauts who have been on board the space station since March.

Upon reaching orbit in the capsule, NASA's Jasmin Moghbeli radioed back to Earth: "We're a united team with a common mission."

A Marine pilot by trade, Moghbeli said her crew's makeup illustrates "what we can do when we work together in harmony."

Alongside Moghbeli on the six-month mission are the European Space Agency's (ESA) Andreas Mogensen, who is from Denmark, Satoshi Furukawa from Japan and Russia's Konstantin Borisov.

Normally NASA insists on two or three members of the crew coming from their own ranks, but due to scheduling issues the crew ended up being more mixed.

"To explore space, we need to do it together," ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher said minutes before the predawn launch at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. "Space is really global, and international cooperation is key."

Former marine whose parents fled Iran

Moghbeli's parents fled Iran amid the country's revolution in 1979. The 40-year-old was born in Germany before being raised on New York's Long Island. She later joined the Marines and flew attack helicopters in Afghanistan. 

"Belief in yourself is something really powerful," she said ahead of the mission.

Borisov, like Moghbeli, will be making his maiden voyage into space, while Morgensen and Furukawa have both been to the ISS before. 

One of the bonuses of being part of an international crew, the astronauts noted, is the food on offer, with the menu including a Persian stew, Japanese mackerel and Danish chocolate.

SpaceX's first-stage booster returned to Cape Canaveral several minutes after liftoff, an extra treat for the thousands of spectators gathered in the early-morning darkness.

The launch had been put back 24 hours after concerns over the capsule's life-support system.

Saturday's launch is the eighth to be carried out by SpaceX on NASA's behalf.

jsi/xx (AP, dpa, AFP)