Live coverage: Atlas 5 blasts off from California

Outgoing space station commander Shane Kimbrough and two Russian crewmates returned to Earth on Monday, riding a Soyuz capsule in a bubble of hot plasma to a parachute-assisted landing in Kazakhstan. The trio undocked from the space station at 0757 GMT (3:57 a.m. EDT) and landed on the Kazakh steppe at 1120 GMT (7:20 a.m. EDT) Monday.

This is the launch timeline to be followed by the Atlas 5 rocket’s ascent into orbit from Cape Canaveral with the GOES-S weather satellite. Launch is scheduled for Thursday during a two-hour window opening at 5:02 p.m. EST (2202 GMT).

Rollout of the Atlas 5 rocket from the Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad at Complex 41 occurred at 10 a.m. on Monday. Liftoff is planned for Tuesday night to deliver the Cygnus resupply ship into orbit en route to the International Space Station.