STS-135: The final space shuttle landing

Launch pads and critical facilities at the Kennedy Space Center and the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station are braced for the onslaught of Hurricane Matthew overnight Thursday, one of the most powerful storms to threaten Florida’s Space Coast since the dawn of the space age 50 years ago.

Officials from NASA and SpaceX briefed the media on Monday’s scheduled launch of a commercial Dragon spacecraft on an automated resupply mission to the International Space Station. It will be the 12th SpaceX cargo flight to the research outpost.

The pressurized crew module and European-built service module for NASA’s first Orion spacecraft to travel to the moon will be joined together for the first time in the coming weeks at the Kennedy Space Center, with preparations — at least for Orion — on a pace to be ready for launch on an unpiloted test flight next year.