Q&A with Keith Gendreau, principal investigator of the first X-ray space communications experiment (members only)

A colorful sunset Tuesday created a dramatic backdrop to Europe’s Ariane 5 rocket, poised on its launch pad at the edge of the Amazon jungle for its 82nd mission.

Government investigators have exonerated SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket in the loss of a top secret space mission known as Zuma in January, blaming a malfunction in a component modified by Northrop Grumman that connected the launcher with its classified payload, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Track the progress of the Soyuz MS-01 spacecraft and its three-person crew through Wednesday’s countdown and launch, followed two days later by docking with the International Space Station on Friday.