Shuttle Atlantis unwrapped ahead of public debut

Watch a video replay of Thursday’s liftoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying the Es’hail 2 communications satellite into orbit.

NASA will hand over control of the Kennedy Space Center’s disused space shuttle landing strip to the state of Florida on June 22 in a major step toward repurposing the three-mile-long runway for future spacecraft, officials said Monday.

Making a brief pit shop in San Diego to clear customs today, the museum-bound space shuttle external fuel tank will reach Los Angeles for offloading from the transport barge on Wednesday, just days after a serendipitous rescue of the passengers from a sunken boat in the Pacific.