Live coverage: Rosetta’s final hours

Europe’s Rosetta spacecraft — six months into its mission at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko — made its closest flyby of the comet’s boulder-strewn nucleus Saturday, capturing photos and measurements to help scientists unravel how the duck-shaped body is evolving on its path around the sun.

SpaceX successfully deployed 60 more Starlink satellites into orbit Wednesday following launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 8:16 a.m. EDT (1216 GMT). One of the nine Merlin engines on the Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage shut down prematurely during ascent, but the launcher was still able to reach the mission’s targeted orbit.

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.