Early image of Ultima Thule revealed, providing hints on its shape

Testing of a lightweight robotic helicopter designed to fly in the alien atmosphere of Mars has produced encouraging results in recent months, and NASA officials expect to decide soon whether the aerial drone will accompany the agency’s next rover to the red planet set for liftoff in 2020.

This will be the 50th Dragon vehicle to visit the International Space Station, including the Dragon 1 vehicles that were berthed to the orbiting lab. Docking with the Harmony module is anticipated Monday, Aug. 25, at 7:30 a.m. EDT (1130 UTC).

Ground crews at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California raised a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket on its launch pad earlier this month in preparation for liftoff May 5 with NASA’s InSight lander heading to Mars.