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

NASA’s New Horizons probe, armored for a nine-year journey through the cold, inhospitable depths of space, launched in January 2006 from Cape Canaveral, and all systems are go for a flyby of Pluto Tuesday. See photos of the spacecraft before it was packaged for launch on an Atlas 5 rocket.

An unpiloted demonstration flight of Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule ended prematurely Sunday with a smooth airbag-cushioned predawn landing in New Mexico after a timing glitch prevented it from docking with the International Space Station, leaving some test objectives incomplete as NASA begins analyzing data to determine if astronauts should fly on the next Starliner mission.

Wrapping up 109 days attached to the International Space Station, a Northrop Grumman Cygnus supply ship departed the orbiting research lab Tuesday to begin an extended four-month mission for additional technology demonstrations and smallsat deployments.