Two Americans, two Saudis launch on commercial astronaut mission

Former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, with more time in space than any other American, rocketed back into orbit for the fourth time Sunday, riding a SpaceX Falcon 9 launcher from Florida with a fare-paying investor and private pilot, and the first two Saudi Arabian astronauts to fly to the International Space Station. The four-person crew strapped into their seats on SpaceX’s Dragon Freedom spacecraft around 3 p.m. EDT (1900 UTC) Sunday, then ground teams evacuated the pad to allow SpaceX to start loading liquid propellants into the Falcon 9 rocket shortly after 5 p.m. EDT (2100 UTC). More

(Source: SpoaceFlight Now - May 22)