SpaceX launches former astronaut and paying customers on Ax-2 mission.

A SpaceX rocket carrying a former NASA astronaut and three paying customers, including the first woman from Saudi Arabia to travel to space, has taken off from Florida for a weeklong stay aboard the International Space Station. The mission, called AX-2, is the second all-private mission to the orbiting outpost and is being led by former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, who also became the first woman to command a private spaceflight. The AX-2 crew will work alongside the professional astronauts on the space station, conducting more than 20 investigations and science projects, including stem cell and other biomedical research.