Live coverage: Soyuz crew lands in Kazakhstan

Two Chinese military pilots rode a Long March 2F rocket into orbit Sunday, heading for the Tiangong 2 research lab to conduct experiments and practice procedures to be used on China’s future space station.

With three space station fliers heading home Sunday after a 168-day mission, three fresh crew members made final preparations for launch three days later to boost the lab’s crew back to six in a rapid-fire rotation that will prevent any major interruption of research activity.

Running a day late, a United Launch Alliance heavy-lift Delta 4 rocket thundered away from Cape Canaveral early Sunday, boosting NASA’s $1.5 billion Parker Solar Probe into space on a daring seven-year mission to “touch the sun” with repeated trips through the star’s blazing outer atmosphere.