Month: November 2021

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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.

Enlarge / FLORIDA, 11/09/2021: A boy gives a nurse a high-five before receiving a shot of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination site for children aged 5 to 11. (credit: Getty | SOPA images)

The White House touted the success of COVID-19 vaccine mandates Wednesday as more of the country's unvaccinated are rolling up their sleeves.

In the last seven days, the country has averaged 300,000 first doses per day, White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients noted in a press briefing today. The weekly total is the highest in nearly a month, Zients added.

Overall, the number of unvaccinated people eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine (people ages 12 and up) has dropped 40 percent since July. That is, the number of unvaccinated fell from about 100 million to less than 60 million.