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.

Record-Setting NASA Astronaut Mark Vande Hei Set for Earth Return after 1 Year Aboard ISS: Watch Live

For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – Record-setting NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei is set to return to Earth early Wednesday morning, March 30 just a few days shy of  serving almost exactly one full year aboard the International Space Station (ISS) along with  two Roscosmos Russian cosmonaut crewmates in a Russian Soyuz capsule. Vande Hei will wrap up a 355-day mission on

‘Super Sooty’ – 1st 12x Flown/Landed SpaceX Falcon 9 Booster Returns to Port Canaveral: Photos

For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM PORT CANAVERAL, FL –  ‘Super Sooty!’ That’s my nickname for the first SpaceX Falcon 9 first stage booster to launch and land for the 12th time and which returned safely to Port Canaveral on Wednesday, March 23, after nailing an upright touchdown atop the firms ocean droneship in the Atlantic Ocean and delivered another batch of

SLS Unveiled in VAB as NASA Retracts Last Work Platforms Ahead of KSC Launch Pad Rollout: Photos

For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL –  NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) Mega Moon rocket has been fully unveiled for the first time today, March 16, after technicians retracted the last two work platforms surrounding the 32 story tall rocket inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) where its components have been assembled together over the past year. NASA

SpaceX Falcon 9 ‘Broomstick’ Booster Blasts Off on Starlink Mission Poking Russian Aggression in Ukraine: Photos

For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM TITUSVILLE, FL – A SpaceX Falcon 9 ‘broomstick’ booster blasted off Wednesday morning, March 9, successfully delivering the next batch of Starlink brodband internet satellites to LEO on the Starlink 4-10 mission from Florida’s Spaceport – while poking Russia during the launch webcast for its unprovoked deadly aggression in Ukraine and insulting comment from Russian space

Thoroughly Sooty 11th Flown/Landed SpaceX Falcon 9 Booster Returns to Port Canaveral as Next Starlink Launch Targets March 9: Watch Live/Photos

For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM PORT CANAVERAL/KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL – A thoroughly sooty and heavily blackened 11x flown veteran SpaceX Falcon 9 booster sailed into Port Canaveral at noontime Monday, March 7 – barely four days after liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center and successfully hauling another batch of 47 Starlink high speed internet satellites to low Earth orbit on

Powerful NASA NOAA GOES-T Weather Observatory Launched on ULA Atlas V to Save Lives: Photos

For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM KENNEDY SPACE CENTER/CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION, FL –  Despite gusty ground winds America’s newest and most powerful weather observation satellite dubbed GOES-T blasted off Tuesday afternoon, March 1, into clear blue skies aboard a powerful United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Florida’s Space Coast and was successfully delivered to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO)