The Instrument Deployment Camera (IDC), located on the robotic arm of NASA’s InSight lander, took this picture of the Martian surface on Nov. 26, 2018, the same day the spacecraft touched down on the Red Planet. The camera’s transparent dust cover is still on in this image, to prevent particulates kicked up during landing from settling on the camera’s lens.

@NASAInSight sent home its first photo after #MarsLanding on Nov. 26, 2018: InSight’s view is a flat, smooth expanse called Elysium Planitia, but its workspace is below the surface, where it will study Mars’ deep interior. Ken Kremer  —SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM –26 November 2018 CAPE CANAVERAL, FL –  Congratulations InSight !!! NASA’s newest Mars mission the Insight Lander sticks flawless Mars

Artist’s impression of NASA InSight’s entry, descent and landing at Mars, scheduled for Nov. 26, 2018.  Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech Ken Kremer  —SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM –25 November 2018 CAPE CANAVERAL, FL –  If all goes well Mars will welcome get a new inhabitant in less than 24 hours when NASA’s newest probe to Mars, the InSight lander is slated to make a soft

Video Caption: When NASA’s InSight descends to the Red Planet on Nov. 26, 2018, it’s guaranteed to be a white-knuckle event. Rob Manning, chief engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, explains the critical steps that must happen in perfect sequence to get NASA’s InSight robotic lander safely to the surface on Nov. 26, 2018. Credit: NASA JPL Ken Kremer  —SpaceUpClose.com &

Tilting and lowering of recovered/landed SpaceX Falcon 9 1st stage midday, Nov 21, 2018 vertical to horizontal using 2 cranes onto wheeled transporter for shipment back to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL and eventual relaunch. Dramatically backdropped by NASA’s iconic Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) in this overhead view from Exploration Tower.   Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com Ken Kremer  —SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM –22

Northrop Cygnus NG-10 commercial resupply spacecraft, named the S.S. John Young, grappled by the space station’s Canadarm2  robotic arm on Monday, Nov. 19, 2018. Credit: NASA/Serena Auñón-Chancellor Ken Kremer —SpaceUpClose.com  & RocketSTEM –22 November 2018 NASA WALLOPS FLIGHT FACILITY, VA & CAPE CANAVERAL, FL– This is a very good and busy week in space as the American Cygnus and Russian

Recovered SpaceX Falcon 9 first stage booster is craned off the ocean going OCISLY droneship platform on Nov. 20, 2018 onto mounting cradle on land at Port Canaveral, FL, using Booster Lift/Leg Retraction Device (BLLRD).  The nine Merlin 1D first stage engines are clearly visible at the booster base glistening in the sun. It was towed into port Nov. 19

Illustration of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft launching atop the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, targeted for January 2019.  Credits: SpaceX Ken Kremer  —SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM –21 November 2018 CAPE CANAVERAL, FL –  NASA and SpaceX announced January 7, 2019 as the targeted launch date for the first unpiloted test flight

SpaceX Falcon 9 first stage booster sails back into Port Canaveral, FL on Nov. 19, 2018 towed to dockside berthing port by SpaceX Naval fleet atop the ocean going OCISLY droneship platform upon which it landed – after launching Es’hail-2 comsat on Nov. 15 from Launch Complex-39A at Kennedy Space Center, FL.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com Ken Kremer  —SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM –19

The Northrop Grumman Antares rocket, with Cygnus NG-10 resupply spacecraft onboard, is seen above the Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC, on Nov. 17, 2018. The rocket launched from Pad-0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia that morning. Northrop Grumman’s 10th contracted cargo resupply mission for NASA to the International Space Station will deliver about 7,400 pounds of science