Photos: Atlas 5 rocket powers NROL-52 payload to space

Rocket Lab’s next launch from New Zealand, set for Friday, will carry a data recorder to measure the aerothermal environments encountered by the Electron launcher’s first stage during descent back into the atmosphere, information engineers say is crucial to successfully achieving the company’s newly-announced plan to recover and reuse the booster.

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.

SpaceX’s next Falcon 9 rocket arrived at launch pad 39A Thursday for a customary hold-down engine firing. Liftoff from Florida’s Space Coast is targeted for Sunday, weather permitting.