Year: 2018

NASA CubeSat Snaps 1st Ever Image of Mars

One of NASA’s twin MarCO spacecraft took this image of Mars on October 2, 2018 — the first time a CubeSat, a kind of low-cost, briefcase-sized spacecraft — has done so.  Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech Ken Kremer  —   SpaceUpClose.com  —   22 October 2018 CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – NASA’s first ever interplanetary cubesats – named MarCO- have snapped an image of Mars for

Soyuz Crew Launch Abort Caused by Collision at Booster Separation: Roscosmos

Renowned cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, Roscosmos Executive Director for Manned Flights, speaks to the reporters in Moscow about the Soyuz failure.  Credit: Roscosmos Ken Kremer  —   SpaceUpClose.com  —   18 October 2018 CAPE CANAVERAL, FL –  The emergency abort of the Soyuz crew launch with two crewmembers strapped inside on Oct. 11 was apparently caused by a failure in the booster separation

Atlas V Magnificent Midnight March To Orbit Delivers Air Force AEHF-4 Satellite for Secure Military Communications: Photos

Streaking to Orbit: United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the Advanced Extremely High Frequency AEHF-4 jam resistant military communications satellite for the U.S. Air Force blasts off shortly after midnight liftoff to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) in this long duration exposure photo on Oct. 17, 2018 at 12:15 a.m. ET from Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force

ULA Ready for Nightime Liftoff of USAF AEHF-4 National Security Relay Comsat Oct 17 on Mighty Atlas V: Pad Photos, Watch Live

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the AEHF-4 milcomsat for the U.S. Air Force is poised for midnight liftoff to GTO on Oct. 17, 2018 at 12:15 a.m. ET from Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on a national security mission. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com Ken Kremer  —   SpaceUpClose.com  —   16 October 2018 CAPE CANAVERAL

Air Force Awards Trio of Rocket Development Contracts to ULA, Northrop Grumman, Blue Origin but Not SpaceX

USAF awarded contracts valued at over $2 Billion to ULA, Northrop Grumman and Blue Origin to develop new prototype rockets for National Security Space launches.  Collage Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com Ken Kremer  —   SpaceUpClose.com  —   12 October 2018 CAPE CANAVERAL, FL –  The U.S. Air Force announced a trio of contracts to develop rocket prototypes for future National Security Space launches

Astronaut Cosmonaut Crew Safe After Soyuz Launch Abort to Space Station: NASA Photos, Video

The Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft is launched with Expedition 57 Flight Engineer Nick Hague of NASA and Flight Engineer Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. During the Soyuz spacecraft’s climb to orbit, an anomaly occurred, resulting in an abort downrange. The crew was quickly recovered and is in good condition. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill