For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – Ingenuity has been chosen as the name for the small but innovative and groundbreaking spacecraft that will mark NASA’s first attempt at powered flight on another planet as part of NASA Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission – and the name was submitted by Alabama High School junior student Vaneeza Rupani. NASA’s 2020
For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – Marking a significant step forward in landing Americans on the Moon by 2024 NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced the selection of three U.S. companies – Blue Origin, SpaceX and Dynetics – to design and develop the critical human landing systems (HLS) under the agency’s Artemis moon landing program. Blue Origin won by
For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM PORT CANAVERAL, FL – Despite a slightly harder landing than normal landing on the OCISLY droneship minutes after last weeks Starlink mission blastoff on Apr. 22, SpaceX workers successfully retracted all four of the recycled Falcon 9 1st stage landing legs in a single afternoon in Port Canaveral on Tuesday April 28, after craning it off
For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL – A four time recycled SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket streaked to orbit Wednesday afternoon on a stunning launch from the Florida Space Coast successfully carrying the next batch of 60 Starlink broadband satellites to orbit and thereby expanding the constellation to over 400 – and then landing the first stage on an
For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – The American-Russian crew of Expedition 62 returned safely to an Earth vastly changed by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic early this morning Friday, April 17 after departing the International Space Station in their Soyuz spacecraft last night Thursday, April 16 for a safe soft landing just hours later in Kazakhstan. The trio of
For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – The Expedition 62 crew is set to depart the International Space Station today, Thursday, April 16 and touchdown tomorrow a few hours later in Kazakhstan on Friday, April 17. The crew comprises NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan and essica Meir as well as Oleg Skripochka of the Russian space agency Roscosmos. Departure is
For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – NASA has chosen SpaceX to provide commercial cargo deliveries to the Artemis programs lunar orbiting mini space station known as Gateway in support of the agencies human lunar landing missions starting as soon as 2024 – using a modified version of the commercial cargo Dragon spacecraft already under contract and utilized for
For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – With greatly reduced fanfare and no family members present in response to the continuing coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic a new Russian-American trio of spacefarers successfully launched to orbit aboard an upgraded Soyuz rocket this morning Thursday, April 9 and docked at the International Space Station (ISS) just six hours later. The new spaceflyer
For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – Following the problem plagued maiden launch of Boeing’s Starliner astronaut crew capsule in December, the company announced they will fly a second uncrewed test flight to verify the space taxi is safe and reliable enough to be entrusted to launch NASA astronauts in the future to the International Space Station (ISS). Boeing
For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – NASA and the nation continue to deal with the ever expanding fallout from the deadly coronavirus COVOD-19 pandemic. Below is the newest update from NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine on April 2. Specifically related to NASA, some missions like the International Space Station (ISS) including the upcoming Soyuz crew launch on April 9