Live coverage: Soyuz soars into space on its fourth launch attempt

Spectacular views from a NOAA space weather observatory show the sunlit far side of the moon crossing the face of the Earth from a distant vantage point a million miles away.

SpaceX’s tenth launch of the year took off Tuesday from California’s Central Coast on a unique ridehsare mission to add satellites to Iridium’s communications network and replace two Earth science satellites which ended their observations last year.

A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket, upgraded to carry heavier payloads into orbit, lifted off Saturday from a launch pad on Virginia’s Eastern Shore with a Cygnus supply ship in pursuit of the International Space Station with fresh food, a collection of biological and technology demonstration experiments, a zero-g baking oven, and repair gear for an aging $2 billion particle physics experiment.