SpaceX launches 3rd crew in under year, fly on reused rocket

Another astronaut with a Missouri connection heads to the International Space Station.

Megan McArthur is part of the third SpaceX crew launch that happened early Friday in Florida. McArthur is the wife of St. Louis-area native Bob Behnken. He was part of the first SpaceX crew launch last year. Lebanon native Mike Hopkins was on the second Space X crew.

More from The Associated Press:

SpaceX has launched its third crew in under a year for NASA, this time using a recycled rocket and capsule. A Falcon rocket carrying four astronauts blasted into orbit early Friday morning from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. The Dragon capsule should reach the International Space Station on Saturday. It’s the same capsule that carried up the first SpaceX crew last May. And the rocket hoisted the second crew in November. SpaceX founder Elon Musk met briefly with the U.S., French and Japanese astronauts before they headed to the launch pad.