Video: Soyuz launches three-person international crew

Flying for the first time this year, a Proton rocket streaked into space Thursday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with two Russian Express communications satellites that will beam television, radio and broadband signals across the country.

It’s not an unprecedented sight, but catching the International Space Station transiting a celestial object like the sun or moon takes patience and precision. An Australian photographer was in the right place at the right time to capture the moment.

NASA’s Perseverance rover will depart Cape Canaveral Thursday on a $2.7 billion mission to Mars, carrying with it the first interplanetary aircraft, sophisticated instruments to search for signs of ancient life, and drill to core samples for eventual return to Earth.