Drone’s view of Sunday’s SpaceX rocket landing

Russia’s Progress M-28M supply ship blasted off from the steppes of Kazakhstan on Friday, launching on a two-day trip to the International Space Station with critical supplies, fuel and fresh food displayed by station astronaut Scott Kelly.

The launch was the first of about half a dozen missions planned to expand the National Reconnaissance Office’s proliferated architecture satellite constellation. Liftoff from pad 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 7:53 p.m. PST (10:53 p.m. EST, 0353 UTC).

NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will be geared up for the long haul when they launch from the Kennedy Space Center on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft later this month, but they won’t know exactly how long they will be in orbit until they are already aboard the International Space Station.