Shuttle Atlantis unwrapped ahead of public debut

NASA and SpaceX have set April 22 as the target launch date for the next Crew Dragon flight to the International Space Station. The four-person crew will be the first to ride a previously-flown Falcon 9 booster and a reused Dragon spacecraft, and a NASA official said this week that the launcher and capsule are in “really good shape” as refurbishment wraps up at Cape Canaveral.

A Falcon 9 rocket was raised into position at pad 39A on Sunday for a customary test firing of its nine first stage Merlin engines. The rocket is being readied for a launch Thursday with a Dragon capsule carrying supplies to the International Space Station.

United Launch Alliance and SpaceX recently won contracts worth $739 million to send six missions into orbit for the U.S. military, and the Air Force has announced a new title for its flagship launcher program, dropping “expendable” from the name in a new era of reusable rockets.