U.S. launches new crewed mission to space station, to bring home stranded astronauts

LOS ANGELES, March 14 (Xinhua) -- NASA and SpaceX launched a new crewed mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday, a critical step to bring home NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore who have been stranded in space since last June.

The spacecraft took off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:03 p.m. Friday Eastern Time, according to NASA live broadcast.

About two and half minutes later, SpaceX confirmed Falcon 9 first stage separation. The first stage booster has landed at Landing Zone 1 near the launch pad.

The spacecraft is on its way to ISS, and is expected to dock with the space station on Saturday. ■