Shuttle Atlantis unwrapped ahead of public debut

A SpaceX Cargo Dragon capsule parachuted to an on-target splashdown Wednesday night west of Tampa, returning more than two tons of experiment specimens from the International Space Station, including live rodents and a dozen bottles of space-aged French wine.

Heading into the home stretch of a banner year, SpaceX launched its third Falcon 9 rocket flight of the month Monday with a Korean-owned commercial communications satellite built to connect customers across a swath from the Middle East to East Asia.

The Atlas 5 countdown leading up to Friday’s early morning liftoff from Cape Canaveral with Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule will be several hours longer than usual.