United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket blasts off with secret cargo
Thursday, May 22, 2014 - 10:30
in Astronomy & Space
A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket powered by a Russian first-stage engine -- the focus of renewed debate over U.S. reliance on Russian space technology -- roared to life and climbed away through a cloudless sky Thursday, kicking off a classified mission to boost a National Reconnaissance Office satellite into orbit.