Video: NASA mission launched to return sample of asteroid

A 12,000-pound Mexican mobile communications satellite was hoisted atop its Atlas 5 rocket today as crews finished assembling the vehicle for United Launch Alliance’s 100th liftoff next week.

Cape Canaveral was the point of origination for the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket and the classified NROL-52 payload.

Teams working in Northrop Grumman’s spacecraft factory in Southern California have connected the spacecraft and science modules of the James Webb Space Telescope for the first time, a major milestone as engineers prepare to verify a fix to tears in the observatory’s sunshield, and begin launch vibration and acoustic testing in the coming months.