Shuttle Atlantis unwrapped ahead of public debut

A spectacle never seen before — a space shuttle external fuel tank traversing city streets — was witnessed in Los Angeles on Saturday as the relic was moved to the museum that will construct a rocket science attraction.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Thursday, heading due east over the Atlantic Ocean to deliver the Es’hail 2 communications satellite into orbit around 32 minutes later.

Veteran astronauts Soichi Noguchi and Shannon Walker have been assigned to fly to the International Space Station on SpaceX’s second piloted Crew Dragon mission later this year, joining commander Mike Hopkins and astronaut Victor Glover on a planned six-month expedition in orbit.