The American Space Agency (NASA) and the manufacturer Boeing launched the first manned mission of the Starliner spacecraft from the American state of Florida on Wednesday, sending two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS).
LOS ANGELES, June 5 (Xinhua) — The U.S. Space Agency (NASA) and manufacturer Boeing launched the first manned Starliner spacecraft mission from the U.S. state of Florida on Wednesday, sending two NASA astronauts to the Space Station international (ISS).
The spacecraft took off Wednesday at 10:52 a.m. Eastern Time (2:52 p.m. GMT) using an Atlas V rocket from the United Launch Alliance joint venture, from Launch Pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base. The ship is on its way to orbit.
This test flight will transport NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the ISS for approximately a week to test the Starliner spacecraft and its subsystems, before NASA certifies this transport system for rotational missions to the orbiting laboratory as part of the agency’s Manned Commercial Program. END■
 NASA and Boeing launch first manned mission to ISS – Xinhua){kind=link}