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Astronauts board SpaceX rocket for night launch, no Musk

Soichi Noguchi, Shannon Walker, Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover
Victor Glover
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Four astronauts have boarded a SpaceX rocket for a night launch to the International Space Station.

Vice President Mike Pence is expected Sunday at Florida's Kennedy Space Center, but SpaceX chief Elon Musk is sidelined.

Musk says he “most likely” has a moderate case of COVID-19.

His company's Falcon rocket is poised to blast off after sunset with three Americans and one Japanese.

The odds of good weather are 50-50.

It will be only the second time in nearly a decade that astronauts rocket into orbit from the U.S., following a test flight with two pilots.