Atlas/Cygnus pre-launch news conference

Ground crews at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California raised a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket on its launch pad earlier this month in preparation for liftoff May 5 with NASA’s InSight lander heading to Mars.

A Progress refueling and resupply freighter linked up with the International Space Station’s Pirs docking compartment Monday, two days after blasting off from Kazakhstan with more than 2.6 tons of cargo, propellants and water.

Working around multiple helium leaks and thruster problems, the crew of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft wrapped up a challenging rendezvous and a delayed-but-successful docking with the International Space Station Thursday in a major milestone for the new ship’s first piloted test flight.