Astronauts who missed out last year finally get chance in space
The US-Japanese-Russian crew of four rocketed from Nasa's Kennedy Space Centre. They will replace colleagues who launched to the space station in March as fill-ins for Nasa's two stuck astronauts.
Their SpaceX capsule should reach the orbiting lab this weekend and stay for at least six months.
Zena Cardman, a biologist and polar explorer who should have launched last year, was ditched along with another Nasa crewmate to make room for Starliner's star-crossed test pilots.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a Crew Dragon capsule lifts off from the Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida (John Raoux/AP)
The botched Starliner demo forced Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to switch to SpaceX to get back from the space station more than nine months after departing on what should have been a week-long trip.
Ensuring their safe return 'meant stepping aside', Ms Cardman said before her launch.
'Every astronaut wants to be in space. None of us want to stay on the ground, but it's not about me,' said Ms Cardman, the flight commander.
Even after launch, 'things can change at the last minute, so I'll count myself very fortunate when the hatch opens (to the space station)', she said.
Nasa's Mike Fincke – Ms Cardman's co-pilot – was the back-up for Mr Wilmore and Ms Williams on Starliner, making those three still the only ones certified to fly it.
Mr Fincke and Japan's Kimiya Yui, former military officers with previous spaceflight experience, were training for Starliner's second astronaut mission. With Starliner grounded until 2026, Nasa switched the two to the latest SpaceX flight.
Rounding out the crew is Russia's Oleg Platonov. The former fighter pilot was pulled a few years ago from the Russian Soyuz flight line-up because of an undisclosed health issue that he said has since been resolved.
To save money in light of tight budgets, Nasa is looking to increase its space station stays from six months to eight months, a move already adopted by Russia's space agency.
SpaceX is close to certifying its Dragon capsules for longer flights, which means the newly launched crew could be up there until April.
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