Video: Atlas 5 rocket launches space station cargo mission

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket emerged from its vertical hangar Tuesday for the 1,800-foot journey to pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, moving into position for liftoff Thursday with NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover.

The next time astronauts land on the moon, they will ride to the lunar surface in a spacecraft that looks a lot different than the Apollo-era landing module last used in 1972. Lander concepts proposed by SpaceX, Blue Origin and Dynetics — which won a combined $967 million in NASA funding Thursday — take wildly different approaches to carrying crews to the moon.

After three frustrating days of weather delays, the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral at 4:44 p.m. EST (2144 GMT) today to send Orbital ATK’s commercial Cygnus cargo freighter to the International Space Station.