Author: Ken Kremer

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and more space and mission reports direct from Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news. Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area, active in outreach and interviewed regularly on TV and radio about space topics. Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events.

Thruster Firing Puts Beresheet Lunar Lander on Course for the Moon

Beresheet moon lander mission timeline and trajectory. Credit: Space IL Ken Kremer — SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM — 19 March 2019 CAPE CANAVERAL, FL –  Isreal’s first moon mission the privately funded ‘Beresheet’ lunar lander is on course for Destination Moon and capture into lunar orbit following a successful one minute long thruster firing of the main engine this morning, Tuesday, March

Ultima Thule Unveiled in Striking 3D

View with 3D Glasses: This image of Ultima Thule can be viewed with red-blue stereo glasses to reveal the Kuiper Belt object’s three-dimensional shape.  Credits: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/National Optical Astronomy Observatory Ken Kremer  —SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM –17 March 2019 CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – The most distant object ever visited is now unveiled in striking 3D thanks

Delta IV Daunts with Friday Night Lights Carrying 10th Air Force WGS Tactical Comsat on Spectacular 2nd to Last Liftoff: Photos

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV rocket carrying the WGS-10 mission for the U.S. Air Force lifts off from Space Launch Complex-37 at 8:26 p.m. ET on March 15, 2019 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL – as birds flutter in this remote camera photo from the launch pad.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com  Ken Kremer  —SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM –16 March

Penultimate ULA Delta IV Set to Dazzle at Sunset with Mighty Air Force SatCom Cape Launch March 15: Watch Live

File photo of ULA Delta IV rocket poised for sunset blastoff with the Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS-9) mission for the U.S. Air Force from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fl, on Mar. 18, 2017.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com  Ken Kremer  —SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM –15 March 2019 CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, FL  – Nearing the end of its glorious 16 year life

Relaunched Russian/American Crew Launches, Docks Safely at ISS after Last Year’s Harrowing In Flight Soyuz Abort

The Soyuz MS-12 spacecraft is launched with Expedition 59 crewmembers Nick Hague and Christina Koch of NASA, along with Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos, Friday March 15, 2019, Kazakh time (March 14 Eastern time) at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Hague, Koch, and Ovchinin will spend six-and-a-half months living and working aboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls) Ken

NASA Considers Commercial Launch Options for Orion’s 1st Lunar Test Flight in 2020

NASA’s Orion Crew Module and European Service Module orbit around the Moon. Credit: NASA/ESA, ATG-medialab Ken Kremer  —SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM –13 March 2019 KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL –  In a startling and totally unexpected turn of events NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said during congressional testimony today, March 13, that the agency is considering commercial launch vehicle options for launching Orion’s 1st

Trumps’ 2020 NASA Budget Slashes SLS and Science, Shifts Focus to Human Lunar Exploration

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announces NASA’s 2020 budget request from the Trump Administration to NASA employees, contractors and the media at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 11, 2019– backdropped by the Orion Exploration Mission-2 (EM-2) crew capsule being assembled in the Neil Armstrong Operation and Checkout Building.  Astronaut Karen Nyberg shows off interior of mockup Orion via

Scorched SpaceX Dragon Dazzles During Dramatic Night Return to Port Canaveral Closing Historic Test Flight: Photos

Scorched SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule on deck of GO Searcher recovery ship arrives into Port Canaveral, FL late evening of March 9, 2019 some 35 hours after splashdown at 8:45 a.m. EST March 8, in the Atlantic Ocean approximately 230 miles northeast of Cape Canaveral, Florida and hoisting on deck. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com Ken Kremer — SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM – 10

SpaceX Crew Dragon Concludes Historic 1st Test Flight with Successful Splashdown, Human Missions Follow

SpaceX Crew Dragon hoisted aboard SpaceX GO Searcher recovery vessel at approx. 9:50 a.m. EST March 8, 2018 using hydraulic lifting crane from the Atlantic Ocean at a spot located approximately 230 miles northeast of the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida Credit: NASA TV Ken Kremer — SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM – 8 March 2019 KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL –  SpaceX’s commercially