Photos: Atlas 5 rocket aims for International Space Station

A Russian cosmonaut, a NASA flight engineer and a Japanese physician-astronaut strapped into their Soyuz ferry ship early Sunday, undocked from the International Space Station and plunged back to Earth, landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan to close out a 168-day mission.

Two Chinese Beidou navigation satellites launched Thursday, growing the country’s home-grown space-based GPS network nearly 14,000 miles above Earth.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket with a new type of solid rocket booster emerged from its hangar Tuesday evening for the 1,800-foot rollout to pad 41 at Cape Canaveral, moving into position for liftoff Wednesday with a classified National Reconnaissance Office payload.