Video: Atlas 5 rocket launches space station cargo mission

One week after two cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut arrived at the International Space Station, the three crew members they’re replacing strapped into their own Soyuz spacecraft, undocked and returned to Earth Wednesday with a landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan to close out a 196-day mission.

The launch of the next test flight of Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule has been delayed to no earlier than April 2 after workers replaced spacecraft avionics units damaged in a power surge during testing.

These photos show the fiery liftoff of a United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral on Dec. 10, riding three pillars of flame from its hydrogen-fueled RS-68A main engines.