U.S. launches first private astronaut mission to space station

STORY: U.S. launches first private astronaut mission to space station DATELINE: April 9, 2022 LENGTH: 00:02:27 LOCATION: Washington D.C. CATEGORY: TECHNOLOGY SHOTLIST: 1. various of the first private astronaut mission STORYLINE: NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX launched a first private astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday. The four-person multinational crew is composed of Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and Pilot Larry Connor of the United States, Mission Specialist Eytan Stibbe of Israel, and Mission Specialist Mark Pathy of Canada. The mission, codenamed Ax-1, was launched on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket at 11:17 a.m. Eastern Time from the historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. About three minutes after launch, SpaceX confirmed main engine cutoff and stage separation. Following stage separation, Falcon 9's first stage landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. The Dragon spacecraft supportin