Video: Atlas/Cygnus pre-launch news conference

An unpiloted Russian Soyuz spacecraft, carrying a humanoid robot instead of cosmonauts, parachuted to a rare nighttime landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan Friday (U.S. time) to wrap up a test flight to the International Space Station that paved the way for crewed launches using upgraded Soyuz boosters next year.

A new generation of spacecraft with unprecedented clarity and speed to observe the weather, improve forecasting and enhance tracking of severe storms across the United States begins with the launch of an Atlas 5 rocket on Saturday.

A video camera aboard Russian Progress cargo ship reveals craft is spinning dramatically in orbit as it passes in range of ground station communications.