Cape canaveral: The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced Friday the launch of an international crew of four astronauts aboard a SpaceX capsule, as part of the 11th operational mission of astronauts to the International Space Station, despite difficult weather conditions. According to Qatar News Agency, NASA said that the crew, consisting of two American astronauts from the agency, a Russian astronaut, and a Japanese astronaut, launched aboard a Dragon capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The astronauts are scheduled to spend about six months aboard the orbiting laboratory to conduct a series of scientific experiments, including simulating a landing near the lunar south pole, studying the protection of astronauts' eyes from the effects of microgravity, and understanding how plant cells divide in space. The crew will also conduct experiments to produce larger quantities of human stem cells and generate nutrients on demand. The agency said that this crew will replace their colleagues who departed for the International Space Station last March, noting that the SpaceX capsule will arrive at the orbiting laboratory early next week. This is the first in a series of missions scheduled to last about two months longer than usual. The launch was postponed by one day from the original schedule after SpaceX aborted the launch attempt of the Crew-11 spacecraft last Thursday, one minute before the countdown due to low cloud cover.