Shuttle Atlantis unwrapped ahead of public debut

SpaceX is expected to transfer its next Falcon 9 rocket to launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday with a direct-to-home television broadcast satellite on-board, setting up for a two-and-a-half hour predawn launch window Tuesday.

SpaceX’s next Falcon 9 booster is being readied for liftoff from Cape Canaveral, but most of the launcher’s ascent into orbit will be under a news blackout at the request of the U.S. government customer that owns the top secret Zuma payload fastened to the top of the rocket.

A Lockheed Martin Atlas 2AS rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 36B at Cape Canaveral on May 19, 2004, carrying the AMC-11 high-definition TV broadcasting satellite. It was the penultimate mission for the Atlas 2AS, which was fitted with four strap-on solid rocket boosters.