Q&A with Bruce Banerdt, principal investigator on NASA’s InSight mission (members only)

The launch of a Japanese H-2B rocket was called off Tuesday after a fire broke out on the launch pad a few hours before liftoff. A new target launch date has not been confirmed. The mission will carry an HTV cargo ship into orbit on a resupply run to the International Space Station.

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket and NASA’s four MMS satellite probes passed their Flight Readiness Review on Friday that assessed the progress of work and affirmed plans to launch next Thursday night.

SpaceX technicians at Cape Canaveral are readying for the first launch of an upgraded Falcon 9 rocket configuration next week, a mission that will debut changes to make the launcher safer for astronauts and make it easier — and less expensive — for the company to reuse first stage boosters.