Four private astronauts blasted into space early on Tuesday (September 10) in a modified SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, kicking off the company's five-day Polaris Dawn mission, which aims to test new spacesuit designs and conduct the first private spacewalk.
The crew, a billionaire entrepreneur, a retired military fighter pilot and two SpaceX employees, lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida about 5:23 a.m. EST (0923 GMT).
The capsule reached orbit about nine and a half minutes later, and the crew batted around a small plush astronaut toy dog as free fall - zero gravity - became apparent.
Crew Dragon separated from its support trunk three minutes after that, with onboard cameras revealing a spectacular view of the capsule over the sunlit Earth.
