Photos: Atlas 5 rolls out for launch

SpaceX was already tasked with returning NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams as part of the Crew-9 mission. That departure was delayed by NASA due to unresolved issues with the fifth Crew Dragon capsule that will launch the Crew-10 flight.

Christina Koch, veteran of six spacewalks outside the International Space Station — including the first all-female excursion — will join a Russian commander and an Italian flight engineer for a fiery plunge back to Earth early Thursday, setting a new world record for the longest single flight by a female astronaut.

A robotic U.S. military spaceplane surpassed 719 days in orbit Monday, setting a new record for the longest flight of the Air Force’s winged X-37B orbiting experiment platform nearly two years after launching from Florida on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.