Video: Preview of Orion’s recovery

NASA’s first space-worthy Orion capsule blasted off atop a Delta 4-Heavy booster rocket for a two-orbit, four-hour shakedown cruise in orbit. Liftoff occurred at 7:05 a.m. EST (1205 GMT), with splashdown in the Pacific Ocean at 11:29 a.m. EST (1629 GMT).

SpaceX’s Dragon cargo craft ended a four-week mission Sunday with a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, returning from the International Space Station with more than 3,600 pounds of cargo, blood and urine samples, and specimens from a rodent research experiment aimed at helping patients with catastrophic bone injuries and osteoporosis.

Watch a time lapse replay of SpaceX’s next Falcon 9 rocket being raised vertical Thursday at launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a mock countdown and engine test, ahead of a scheduled liftoff this weekend with an Intelsat communications satellite.