Video: Falcon 9 fires up engines for static fire test (members only)

NASA, United Launch Alliance and Air Force officials hold the pre-launch news conference for the Delta 2 rocket with the agency’s SMAP environmental satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base on Jan. 27.

A nest of genetically-engineered mice, a research study to observe the behavior of fires in space, and an experiment that could lead to brewing beer in microgravity are among more than 5,700 pounds of cargo inside a SpaceX Dragon capsule awaiting launch from Cape Canaveral to the International Space Station Thursday.

Astronaut Scott Kelly, in good spirits and looking surprisingly fit after a record 340 days in space, said Wednesday he could have stayed up longer if necessary, giving him confidence future astronauts will be up to the challenge of even longer flights to Mars and beyond.