Crew with first astronaut from Turkey launched on flight to space station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida -- Turkey's first astronaut and three other crew members representing Europe were launched from Florida on Thursday on a voyage to the International Space Station in the latest commercially arranged mission from Texas startup Axiom Space. The autonomously operated Crew Dragon was expected to reach the International Space Station (ISS) early on Saturday morning and dock with the outpost orbiting some 250 miles (400 km) above Earth and currently occupied by seven regular crew members. Photo: ReutersAxiom billed the flight as "the first all-European commercial astronaut mission" to the space station. Mission Specialist Alper Gezeravci of Turkey looks on on the day that Axiom Mission 3 will launch to the International Space Station, at Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. January 18, 2024. NASA, besides furnishing the launch site at Cape Canaveral, assumes responsibility for the astronauts once they rendezvous with the space station.