The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket that will launch the first astronaut crew aboard the Boeing Starliner commercial crew vehicle to the ISS later this year has arrived at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station after rolling off the Delta Mariner cargo ship on June 5, 2019. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com Ken Kremer — SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM – 5 June 2019 CAPE

Members of the public who want to send their name to Mars on NASA’s next rover mission to the Red Planet (Mars 2020) can get a souvenir boarding pass and their names etched on microchips to be affixed to the rover.  Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech Ken Kremer — SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM – 2 June 2019 CAPE CANAVERAL, FL –  As NASA’s next Mars

Boeing teams ran multiple tests on Starliner’s in-space maneuvering system and the spacecraft’s launch abort system on May 23, 2019 at NASA’s White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico. Photo credit: Boeing  Ken Kremer — SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM – 2 June 2019 CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – Boeing engineers completed a lengthy series of hot fire tests on the propulsion system of Starliner

Recovered SpaceX Starlink Falcon 9 1st stage is tilted and lowered horizontally by two cranes and crews working together around 5 PM EDT May 29, 2019 one day after arriving vertical atop OCISLY droneship into Port Canaveral, FL on May 28. Note: 9 Merlin 1D engines fully exposed.   From May 23 SpaceX Starlink 1 launch.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com Ken Kremer — SpaceUpClose.com &

Newly recovered/returned Starlink Falcon 9 1st stage (r) and 1 of 2 recovered payload fairings (l) simultaneously go airborne – another space first – as both are craned off SpaceX recovery ships OCISLY & GO Navigator around 415 PM EDT May 28, 2019. Falcon 9 first stage arrived noonish atop OCISLY into Port Canaveral. Note: 9 Merlin 1D engines fully exposed.   From May 23 SpaceX Starlink 1 launch.  Credit:

Commercial landers will carry NASA-provided science and technology payloads to the lunar surface, paving the way for NASA astronauts to land on the Moon by 2024.  Credits: NASA Ken Kremer — SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM – 31 May 2019 CAPE CANAVERAL, FL –  NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced today the selection of the first 3 American companies contracted to build commercial robotic

UpClose with Octagrabber arms grasping upright thrice flown/landed  Falcon 9 booster 1049.3 standing upright on the OCISLY droneship from SpaceX Starlink 1 launch May 23, 2019 arrived in Port Canaveral, FL around noontime May 28. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com Ken Kremer — SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM – 29 May 2019 PORT CANAVERAL/CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, FL –  SpaceX’s thrice flown and thrice landed

9 Merlin 1D engines and 1 Gripper arm + Fire & Ice – Up Close look at SpaceX Falcon 9 Starlink 1 launch on 23 May 2019 at 1030 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL that successfully delivered 1st 60 Starlink broadband satellites to LEO. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com Ken Kremer — SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM – 26

1st recovered SpaceX payload fairing from Falcon 9 launch of 1st Starlink satellites on May 23, 2019 sails back into Port Canaveral, FL on May 26 on the deck of the GO NAVIGATOR vessel after crews hoisted it on board after ocean splashdown. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com Ken Kremer — SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM – 26 May 2019 PORT CANAVERAL, FL –  Both

The power and propulsion element provides a communications relay capability for NASA’s Gateway, enabling it to serve as a mobile command and service module for human and robotic expeditions to the lunar surface.  Credits: NASA Ken Kremer — SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM – 24 May 2019 KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL –  NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced that Maxar Technologies has been chosen