Watch the Falcon Heavy roar to life

The Atlas 5 countdown leading up to Friday’s early morning liftoff from Cape Canaveral with Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule will be several hours longer than usual.

SpaceX’s Dragon spaceship, carrying more than 4,100 pounds of cargo and research specimens, descended to a predawn splashdown Monday in the Pacific Ocean southwest of Los Angeles, completing the first re-flight of one of SpaceX’s unpiloted supply ships to the International Space Station.

VIDEO: After a cliff-hangar countdown, Atlantis thunders to life and majestically rockets into history, putting on one last sky show for spectators on NASA’s 135th and final shuttle launch on July 7, 2011. (Membership Required)