Falcon 9 launches with GovSat 1 as seen from Kennedy Space Center (members only)

A privately-funded airlock from Nanoracks will head for the International Space Station this weekend in the trunk of a SpaceX Cargo Dragon capsule, adding to the orbiting lab’s capacity for scientific experiments in another milestone for commercial space development.

A collection of pad photos from the ULA Atlas 5 rocket launch of the X-37B spaceplane on its fourth mission taken by photographer Walter Scriptunas II.

It’s Steve Clarke’s job to merge the goals of space scientists with NASA’s strategic plans for exploring the solar system, two factors which are not always in lock-step, as the space agency seeks to return humans to the moon, and eventually send astronauts to Mars.