Waterside view of Delta 4 GPS 2F-6 Launch

Technicians are putting the final touches on a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket set for liftoff Thursday from Vandenberg Air Force Base, a military base on California’s Central Coast, with a top secret spy satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office.

Ready for a journey into the sun’s enigmatic, scorching corona, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has been encapsulated inside the nose cone of its Delta 4-Heavy rocket for liftoff Saturday.

NASA Astronaut Shannon Lucid spent six months aboard the Mir Space Station in 1996. In this video she gives a guided tour of the Russian space outpost.