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

Scientists working on a new lightning detection instrument mounted outside the International Space Station said Tuesday they expect little effect on the sensor’s performance from possible contamination from the upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that launched it into orbit April 2.

Look back on the Oct. 30 launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with this gallery of photos showing the 229-foot-tall launcher lifting off from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Lighting up the pre-dawn sky, a Soyuz rocket roared to life and streaked into orbit Tuesday carrying a Russian cosmonaut and two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station, boosting the lab’s crew back to six and the U.S. complement to four NASA-sponsored astronauts.