Taken aboard Apollo 8 by Bill Anders, this iconic picture shows Earth peeking out from beyond the lunar surface as the first crewed spacecraft circumnavigated the Moon, with astronauts Anders, Frank Borman, and Jim Lovell aboard on Christmas Eve on Dec. 24, 1968. Credit: NASA/Apollo 8/Bill Anders For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM TITUSVILLE, FL – Earthrise!! on Christmas Eve!! On the
For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM TITUSVILLE, FL – Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays well wishes abound from the astronauts and cosmonauts living and working aboard the International Space Station to all the people of Earth! “Astronauts and cosmonauts who happen to be in space during the holidays have found their own unique ways to celebrate the occasions. In the early years
For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM TITUSVILLE, FL – Skywatchers fortunate enough to experience clear skies were treated to a spectacle not seen in centuries as the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn approached to within 0.1 degrees (six arc minutes) culminating during the evening sky of Dec. 21 as seen from our vantage point on Earth – for an event known as
For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL – SpaceX dazzled to the end with the beautiful and spectacular breakfast time Saturday launch of the clandestine NROL-108 national security spy satellite payload for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) on a five time recycled Falcon 9 booster, just in time to shirk away looming dark clouds overtaking the Florida Space Coast
For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL – SpaceX scrubbed Thursday mornings, Dec. 17, Falcon 9 launch attempt of a clandestine NRO spysat in the final minute of the countdown when a second stage sensor indicated slightly high pressure in the liquid Oxygen (LOX) tank – under truly gloomy weather conditions at Florida’s Spaceport that completely obscured the view
For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – Japanese space scientists are positively gleeful as they have now confirmed that their ambitious Hayabusa 2 spacecraft successfully collected over 5 grams of pristine black as coal soil and rock samples gathered from the ancient near earth asteroid Ryugu in a re-entry capsule that parachuted safely to Earth earlier this month after a
For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – China’s daring Chang’e-5 moon probe successfully brought back the first lunar soil and rock samples gathered from the surface in over four decades following a safe soft landing of the return capsule in a remote, snow covered region of Inner Mongolia, in northern China on Wednesday, Dec 16 – demonstrating a spectacular
For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL – After raising the Falcon 9 rocket from vertical to horizontal this afternoon, Wednesday, Dec. 16, SpaceX is targeting Thursday morning, Dec.17 for the breakfast time launch of the clandestine NROL-108 mission spy satellite payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) from the Florida Space Coast. And the weather outlook is rather
For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – China’s daring Chang’e-5 moon probe is now on its way back to Earth with the first ever pristine samples of lunar soil and rocks gathered by a Chinese lunar lander and is expected to touchdown with a landing in Inner Mongolia, in northern China on Wednesday, Dec 16 – says the China
For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION, FL – The Sirius SXM-7 digital audio radio satellite aimed to deliver entertainment broadcast and data services broadcasts to tens of millions of subscribers across North America soared to geostationary orbit from the Florida Space Coast at lunchtime Sunday, Dec. 13 atop a ‘flight-proven’ SpaceX Falcon 9 – that counts as