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, TomMarshburn, and Kayla Barron, as well as European astronautMatthias 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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