Watch the Falcon 9 launch from pad 39A

Flight controllers at NASA’s mission control center in Houston have completed the robotic swap out of a failed power distribution unit outside the International Space Station, clearing a hurdle ahead of Friday’s predawn launch from Cape Canaveral of a SpaceX supply ship.

Two American astronauts and one Russian cosmonaut boarded their Soyuz MS-06 landing craft for a homecoming Tuesday night, U.S. time, concluding 168 days in orbit. The trio undocked from the International Space Station at 5:08 p.m. EST (2208 GMT), and landed on the snowy steppe of Kazakhstan at 9:31 p.m. EST (0231 GMT Wednesday).

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine visited SpaceX’s California rocket factory Thursday, toured the sprawling facility with founder Elon Musk and told reporters he is optimistic the company will be ready to launch the first piloted test flight of its Crew Dragon spaceship in the first quarter of next year.