NASA Selects SpaceX Falcon Heavy to Launch Psyche Metallic Asteroid Mission

NASA selects SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket to launch Psyche mission to metallic asteroid in 2022. File photo from Falcon Heavy 2 launch.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

28 February 2020

Ken Kremer – - For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM 

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL- NASA has selected the heavy lift SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket to launch the agency’s Psyche mission on the first ever mission to a metallic asteroid.

Liftoff of the Psyche mission currently is targeted to launch in July 2022 on the triple core Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Read the entire story at Space UpClose:
https://www.spaceupclose.com/2020/02/nasa-selects-spacex-falcon-heavy-to-launch-psyche-metallic-asteroid-mission/

NASA Mathematician and Racial Trailblazer Katherine Johnson Dies at Age 101

NASA research mathematician Katherine Johnson is photographed at her desk at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Born on Aug. 26, 1918, in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, Johnson worked at Langley from 1953 until her retirement in 1986.  Credits: NASA

24 February 2020

Ken Kremer – - SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM 

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL –NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson who calculated critical flight trajectories that helped launch America’s first astronauts safely into space and back including Alan Shepard and John Glenn and later helped land NASA’s Apollo 11 astronauts on the Moon and who was also a legendary trailblazing leader in civil rights, racial and gender equality passed away today, Feb. 24, at the phenomenal age of 101.

Read the entire story at Space UpClose:

https://www.spaceupclose.com/2020/02/nasa-mathematician-and-racial-trailblazer-katherine-johnson-dies-at-age-101/

Space Adventures Announces Plan to Launch Private Space Tourists on SpaceX Crew Dragon

View inside SpaceX Crew Dragon. Credit: SpaceX

19 February 2020

Ken Kremer - - For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM 

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL –  Hot on the heels of SpaceX success in manufacturing, testing and delivering the first Crew Dragon spacecraft to Florida for launching NASA astronauts to space from American soil for the first time in nearly a decade, Space Adventures has contracted with SpaceX to launch private paying space tourists to Earth orbit for a multiday high frontier excursion as soon as late 2021.

Read the entire story at Space UpClose:
https://www.spaceupclose.com/2020/02/space-adventures-announces-plan-to-launch-private-space-tourists-on-spacex-crew-dragon/

Nine Finalists Selected for NASA's Mars 2020 Rover Naming Contest

This illustration depicts NASA's next Mars rover, which launches in July 2020. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

20 February 2020

Ken Kremer – - SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM 

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – After conducting a nationwide contest where kindergarten through 12^th grade students across the United States submitted essays to "Name the Rover" NASA has selected 9 candidate names as finalists “to come up with a fitting name for NASA's Mars 2020 rover.” 

Read the entire story at Space UpClose:

https://www.spaceupclose.com/2020/02/nine-finalists-selected-for-nasas-mars-2020-rover-naming-contest/

NASA Mars 2020 Rover Arrives at Kennedy Space Center Launch Base for July Blastoff

The Mars 2020 rover is offloaded from a C-17 aircraft at the Launch and Landing Facility, formerly the Shuttle Landing Facility, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 12, 2020. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston

18 February 2020

Ken Kremer – - SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM 

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – NASA’s Mars 2020 rover has arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Florida launch base for final processing ahead of blastoff  slated for July – after departing the only home she has ever known and where she was lovingly created by engineers working at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California.  

Read the entire story at Space UpClose:
https://www.spaceupclose.com/2020/02/nasa-mars-2020-rover-arrives-at-kennedy-space-center-launch-base-for-july-blastoff/

Beautiful Blastoff SpaceX Falcon 9 with 5th Batch Starlink Broadband Satellites, Misses Booster Landing: Photos

Recycled SpaceX Falcon 9 blasts off on 5th Starlink mission from  Space Launch Complex-40 at 10:05 a.m. ET on 17 Feb 2020 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida – as seen in this view from the Max Brewer Bridge along the Indian River Lagoon with exhaust flames reflecting in the water in between 2 boats with top half of NASA’s VAB bedecked in fog. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

17 February 2020

Ken Kremer - - For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM

CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, FL – Under foggy skies that enveloped the launch pad in the hours leading up to launch and for a time threatened to postpone liftoff, and after days of delays due to poor weather and technical problems with the SpaceX rocket, a quadruple recycled Falcon 9 booster blasted off successfully into a  mix of sun and low clouds-morning Monday morning Feb. 17 with the next batch of  Starlink broadband internet satellites from the Florida Space Coast. 

Read the entire story at Space UpClose:
https://www.spaceupclose.com/2020/02/beautiful-blastoff-spacex-falcon-9-with-5th-batch-starlink-broadband-satellites-photos/

SpaceX Falcon 9 Set for 5th Launch of Starlink Broadband Satellites Feb. 17: Photos/Watch Live

Up Close nose cone view of SpaceX Falcon 9 resting horizontal at Space Launch Complex-40 the day before planned launch on 5th Starlink mission on 17 Feb 2020 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

16 February 2020

Ken Kremer - - For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM

CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, FL – After days of delays due to poor weather and technical problems with the rocket, a recycled SpaceX Falcon 9 is slated to launch Monday morning Feb. 17 with the next batch of  Starlink broadband internet satellites – and the weather outlook is very good!

Read the entire story at Space UpClose:

https://www.spaceupclose.com/2020/02/spacex-falcon-9-set-for-5th-launch-of-starlink-broadband-satellites-feb-17-photos-watch-live/

SpaceX Crew Dragon Arrives at Kennedy for Demo-2 Astronaut Crew Mission to ISS

The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft for the first crew launch from American soil since 2011, has arrived at the launch site. NASA and SpaceX are preparing for the agency’s first flight test with astronauts to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. The SpaceX Crew Dragon will launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket with NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley from historic Launch Complex 39A from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The spacecraft now will undergo final testing and prelaunch processing in a SpaceX facility on nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Photo credit: SpaceX

14 February 2020

Ken Kremer - - For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM 

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL –  The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft that will very likely launch on its first launch with a crew of two NASA astronauts on the Demo-2 mission sometime this spring from American soil has arrived at the launch site at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 

Read the entire story at Space UpClose:

https://www.spaceupclose.com/2020/02/spacex-crew-dragon-arrives-at-kennedy-for-demo-2-crew-mission-to-iss/

Solar Orbiter Streaks to Space on ULA Atlas V to Explore Sun’s Polar Region and Space Weather: Photos

ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter mission to study the Sun streaks to space atop  a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 11:03 p.m. EST on Feb. 9, 2020 – in this long duration exposure taken from the roof of NASA’s iconic Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) with photographers in the foreground.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

9 February 2020

Ken Kremer - - For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM 

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER/CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION, FL –  The Solar Orbiter collaborative  mission between ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA to study the Sun and its poles and space weather in unprecedented detail streaked to space on a commercial United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket  Sunday evening, Feb. 9 from the Florida Space Coast. 

Read the entire story at Space UpClose:
https://www.spaceupclose.com/2020/02/solar-orbiter-streaks-to-space-on-ula-atlas-v-to-explore-suns-polar-region-and-space-weather-photos/

NASA/ESA Solar Orbiter Rolls Out on ULA Atlas V to Launch Pad 41: Photos

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with the NASA/ESA Solar Orbiter spacecraft arrives at the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida after rollout on Feb. 8, 2020. Launch targeted Feb. 9 at 11:03 p.m. EST. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

8 February 2020

Ken Kremer - -  For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM 

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER/CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION, FL –  The collaborative  NASA/ESA Solar Orbiter spacecraft rolled out to the launch pad atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station this morning, Saturday, February 8 under sunny blue skies on the Florida Space Coast. 

Read the entire story at Space UpClose:
https://www.spaceupclose.com/2020/02/nasa-esa-solar-orbiter-rolls-out-on-ula-atlas-v-to-launch-pad-photos/

Despite Hard Droneship Landing SpaceX Retracts All 4 Recycled Falcon 9 Starlink Landing Legs, Lowered Horizontal for Cape Transport: Photos

Triply launched/recovered SpaceX Falcon 9 1st stage is tilted and lowered horizontally by two cranes and crews working together around 10 AM EST Feb 4, 2020, three days after arriving vertical atop OCISLY droneship into Port Canaveral, FL on Feb 1. From Starlink 3 launch Jan. 29 from Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

5 February 2020

Ken Kremer - - For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM 

PORT CANAVERAL, FL –  Despite a hard landing on the OCISLY droneship minutes after last weeks Starlink mission blastoff on Jan. 29, SpaceX workers were able to successfully retract all four of the recycled Falcon 9 landing legs without too much hardship in Port Canaveral on Monday, Feb. 3 although they were significantly deflected at touchdown – as seen in the firms live video feed.

Read the entire story at Space UpClose:
https://www.spaceupclose.com/2020/02/despite-hard-droneship-landing-spacex-retracts-all-4-recycled-falcon-9-starlink-landing-legs-lowered-horizontal-for-cape-transport-photos/

Under Gloomy Skies Recovered SpaceX Starlink Booster Sails Triumphantly into Port Canaveral: Photos

Crashing waves against Jetty Park beach greets arrival of third-time launched Falcon 9 1^st stage booster landed atop “Of Course I Still Love You” (OCISLY) droneship into Port Canaveral early morning Feb. 1, 2020 – 3 days after SpaceX Starlink 3 launch Jan. 29 from Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

1 February 2020

Ken Kremer - -  For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM

PORT CANAVERAL, FL –  Under gloomy and rainy Space Coast skies the triply launched and recovered Falcon 9 1^st stage booster triumphantly sailed into Port Canaveral atop the OCISLY droneship Saturday morning Feb. 1, at the channel entrance past Jetty Park Pier - nearly three days after the oft weather delayed but nevertheless spectacular launch of their next batch of their 60 Starlink satellites into sunny Florida skies on Wednesday morning, Jan. 29.

Read the entire story at Space UpClose:
https://www.spaceupclose.com/2020/02/under-gloomy-skies-recovered-spacex-starlink-booster-sails-triumphantly-into-port-canaveral-photos/

Recovered SpaceX Starlink Payload Fairings Sail into Port Canaveral: Photos

GO Ms. Tree SpaceX fairing catcher ship with recovered fairing half on deck and broken net passes by GO Ms. Chief which arrived first with recovered fairing half in upper net after both SpaceX fairing catcher ships arrived into Port Canaveral, Fl, shortly before 4 pm ET Jan 30, 2020. From 4^th Starlink launch day before on Jan. 29. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

30 January  2020

Ken Kremer - - For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM 

CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, FL – Following the oft weather delayed but nevertheless spectacular SpaceX launch of their next batch of their 60 Starlink satellites into sunny skies on a used Falcon 9 rocket on Wednesday morning, Jan. 29, the special SpaceX naval fleet team was able to successfully recover both halves of the payload fairing and sail them triumphantly  back into Port Canaveral just over a day later Thursday, Jan 30.

Read the entire story at Space UpClose:
https://www.spaceupclose.com/2020/01/recovered-spacex-starlink-payload-fairings-sail-into-port-canaveral-photos/