SpaceX is beginning to get the hang of human spaceflight

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  SpaceX/NASA's Crew-3 mission finds a way through the November weather, launching only 46 hours 30 minutes after Crew-2 splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico. [credit: Trevor Mahlmann ]

Finally afforded serene skies and fair seas, SpaceX successfully launched four more astronauts for NASA on a Falcon 9 rocket Wednesday night.

Flying atop a once-used Falcon 9 first stage, the Crew Dragon spacecraft ascended into thin clouds above Kennedy Space Center, and safely reached orbit. The first stage subsequently returned to Earth, landing on a drone ship. The crew—NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, and Kayla Barron, as well as European astronaut Matthias Maurer—will dock with the International Space Station on Thursday evening.

Perhaps the most notable aspect of Wednesday night's launch is that it seemed almost routine.

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