Month: September 2018

Last Delta II to Live On at Lasting Home at Famous Kennedy Space Center Rocket Garden

The final United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta II rocket that launched NASA’s ICESat-2 mission stands poised for liftoff from Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California on Sept 15, 2018. The same configuration with four strap-on solid rocket booster will be displayed in the lineup at the famous Rocket Garden at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in

ULA Selects Bezos Blue Origin Engine for New Vulcan Rocket

Artist’s concept of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket powered by Blue Origin BE-4 booster engine launching from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL. Credit: ULA Ken Kremer  —   SpaceUpClose.com  —   27 September 2018 CAPE CANAVERAL, FL –   Following several years of work and intense speculation rocket builder United launch Alliance (ULA) has at least made the highly anticipated selection

Silent 100 Days NASA’s Opportunity Rover Emerges from Martian Dust Storm: Orbital Photo

NASA’s Opportunity rover appears as a blip in the center of this square. This image taken on Sept. 20, 2018 by HiRISE, a high-resolution camera onboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows the dust storm over Perseverance Valley has substantially cleared. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona  Ken Kremer  —   SpaceUpClose.com  —   25 September 2018 CAPE CANAVERAL, FL –   Still silent after

Legless Recovered Falcon 9 Rolls into Cape for Future SpaceX Launch Recycling: Gallery

Legless SpaceX Falcon 9 recovered first stage is transported horizontally from Port Canaveral into Cape Canaveral Air Force Station atop multi-wheel transporter on Sept. 15, 2018, after detachment of all four landing legs utilizing square shaped ‘Booster Lift/Leg Retraction Device’ (BLLRD) apparatus bolted on top of the booster and since removed.  From Telstar 18v launch. For eventual launch recycling –

Japanese Billionaire Named as 1st Private Passenger on SpaceX BFR Mission to the Moon

SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk (left) announces and Yusaku Maezawa, (right) founder of the Japanese retail site Zozo, as the private paying passenger for SpaceX’s private BFR lunar mission launching in 2023, at SpaceX’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California, on Sept. 17, 2018. Credit: SpaceX webcast screenshot Ken Kremer  —   SpaceUpClose.com  —   17 September 2018 CAPE CANAVERAL, FL –  Japanese

Historic Last ULA Delta II Rocket Launches NASA’s ICESat-2 to Probe Earth’s Ice Sheets

The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta II rocket with the NASA Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) onboard is seen shortly after the mobile service tower at SLC-2 was rolled back, Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The ICESat-2 mission will measure the changing height of Earth’s ice.  Credits: NASA/ Bill Ingalls Ken Kremer