Q&A with Sara Seager, deputy director of science on NASA’s TESS mission (members only)

SpaceX has released new photos of last week’s thrilling rocket landing aboard a floating drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean, showing the 15-story Falcon 9 first stage slowing to a hover just as it touched down on the platform.

The NROL-149 mission was the sixth and final mission of the year supporting the agency’s proliferated architecture. Liftoff from pad 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 5:19 a.m. PST (8:19 a.m. EST, 1319 UTC).

Orbital ATK’s upgraded Antares rocket, featuring newly-built RD-181 main engines, completed a 30-second test firing on a launch pad on Virginia’s Eastern Shore on Tuesday.