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

The Atlas 5 rocket emerges from the Vertical Integration Facility for rollout to Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral in preparation to launch the Orbital ATK Cygnus resupply ship to the International Space Station. Liftoff is set for Thursday at 5:55 p.m. EST.

Japan’s fifth HTV cargo freighter completed a five-day flight to the International Space Station on Monday, making a glacial laser-guided approach to the complex with a 9,500-pound package of food, spare parts and experiments.

Rocket Lab teams in New Zealand are preparing for the company’s first launch of the year Sunday (U.S. time) with a small experimental satellite for DARPA, the U.S. military’s research and development agency.