Q&A with Keith Gendreau, principal investigator of the first X-ray space communications experiment (members only)

NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and two Russian cosmonauts will ride a Soyuz ferry ship to the International Space Station early Friday, the first step in a record crew rotation requiring two launches and two landings with four different spacecraft in just three weeks.

A review team studying software glitches and other miscues that cropped up during an unpiloted test flight of Boeing’s CST-100 crew capsule last December has made some 60 recommendations to make sure all the known shortcomings are addressed before the spacecraft is cleared for another flight, NASA managers said Friday.

The launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base included 13 Starlink satellites that include Direct to Cell capabilities. Liftoff from pad 4E happened at 9:53 p.m. PST (12:53 a.m. EST, 0553 UTC).