For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – NASA’s groundbreaking Ingenuity Helicopter notched its 8th successful test flight on the Red Planet this week traveling for more than a minute and achieving a soft touchdown at another new ‘airfield’ – the fifth – after being upgraded with new flight software utilized for the 1st time now on its 3rd operational
For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM TITUSVILLE, FL – After completing a successful static fire test of the Falcon 9 first stage booster on Tuesday afternoon, June 22, SpaceX unexpectedly announced two days later Thursday, June 24, that the planned launch of their second dedicated rideshare mission Transporter-2 carrying over 80 small satellites and slated for Friday afternoon, June 25, would be
For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION, FL – In a major step towards launching NASA astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) the components for the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket that will propel the Boeing Starliner commercial crew capsule to space were offloaded from the delivery ship R/S Rocketship Monday, June 21 after arrival
CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION, FL – SpaceX successfully launched the newest next generation GPS III series navigation satellite with enhanced timing, speed and antijamming capabilities for the U.S. military on the 1st ever recycled Falcon 9 rocket approved for use on a national security mission for the Space Force to medium Earth orbit at lunchtime Thursday, June 17 from
For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – In a major advance demonstrating the growing prowess of China’s technological and scientific progress China successfully launched a trio of astronauts on the country’s first human spaceflight mission since 2016 on the Shenzhou-12 capsule, Thursday, June 17- who soon rendezvoused and docked about six and a half hours later at the Tianhe
For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – Chinese space officials named the crew for the country’s next human spaceflight mission now targeting launch on the Shenzhou-12 capsule on Thursday, June 17 on the first crewed mission to their new space station Tiangong – orbiting in low Earth orbit since liftoff in late April. The three man crew was revealed
For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL – The first ever built and truly mammoth 212 foot tall core stage for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) mega rocket was at last raised vertical inside the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) this past weekend and then raised high and stacked in between the two twin 177 foot tall solid rocket
For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – China’s Zhurong rover snapped a completely unique and stunning selfie of the six wheeled rover standing side by side with the lander platform that safely delivered it to the surface of the Red Planet onto the plains of the Utopia Planitia landing site – thus becoming the first ever Chinese spacecraft to
For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – Billionaire Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest person and founder of Amazon and Blue Origin, announced Monday, June 7, he will fly aboard the 1st crew flight with humans to space of his company’s New Shepard suborbital launch vehicle and capsule this July to the edge of space – and he’s invited his
For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM TITUSVILLE, FL – Just past midnight Sunday, June 6, the SiriusXM SXM-8 digital audio radio satellite was hurled to orbit atop a ‘flight-proven’ SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket but soon disappeared behind low and thick clouds that mostly obscured the view but nonetheless delighted spectators with the cracking engine roar reverberating around the Florida Space Coast and