Photos: Atlas 5 powers NRO payload into the night

The Atlas 5 rocket emerges from the Vertical Integration Facility for rollout to Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral in preparation to launch the Orbital ATK Cygnus resupply ship to the International Space Station. Liftoff is set for Thursday at 5:55 p.m. EST.

The last flight of United Launch Alliance’s Delta 4-Medium rocket lifted off Aug. 22 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, riding more than 1.2 million pounds of thrust from a hydrogen-fueled main engine and two strap-on solid rocket motors.

The pre-launch news conference for the Jason 3 ocean altimetry mission, scheduled for launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. (Membership required.)