Photos: Gantry retracted from Atlas 5

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket will boost NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-M, or TDRS-M, into space from Cape Canaveral on Aug. 18 at 8:03 a.m. EDT (1203 GMT).

The Centaur upper stage launching the Cygnus space freighter Tuesday persevered through a velocity shortfall from the first stage of the Atlas 5 rocket, improvising with a longer firing to reach the correct orbit.

The ocean-sailing ship that transports rocket stages from United Launch Alliance’s factory to U.S. launch sites completed its latest voyage overnight, pulling into port to deliver the Atlas 5 that will send a cargo freighter to the International Space Station in March.