How We Picked The AW&ST Photo Issue Cover

U.S. Army Sgt. Marc Echalas, a crew chief with Bravo Company "Boxcars", 1-68th General Support Aviation Battalion, Washington National Guard, watches a CH-47 Chinook take-off from Vagabond Army Heliport at Yakima Training Center, Wash., June 6, 2023. As part of their annual training period, the flight crews completed a night aerial gunnery qualification range using M240H machine guns. 

There may be moments that never return. Taken five days before Starship's inaugural flight, a South Padre Island local guides a space operations crew member around SpaceX's Starship launch facility in Starbase, Texas during one of the most spectacular displays of evening light yet seen. April 15, 2023 - Starbase, Texas.

This is two photos taken at the same focal length two days apart. One was taken from a charter boat 12.2 mi. offshore, where we were trying to capture the Starship on the pad at the right proportions for the Sun to totally envelop the massive rocket. As luck would have it, the cloud bank on the horizon blocked the Sun. However, I stuck with it and captured a frame while bouncing around in 8-10-ft. seas and didn’t think I would use it at all. But the next day, the sky on the horizon was clear at SpaceX Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas. So I used the same settings to capture the Sun on the horizon at the same angle. The two images were combined in Photoshop with a blending mode and slight masking.

Falcon Heavy is next in line for a launch, as a Falcon 9 lifts off with a Starlink batch in the distance.

This photo captures the enthusiasm for space exploration in one frame. Onlookers watch the new SpaceX Starship/Super Heavy rocket lift off from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, 5.5 mi. away from their vantage point at Isla Blanca Park. Just a few seconds earlier, the child in the frame was sitting next to his dad and brother. As the rocket emerged from the massive plume of smoke and debris, he jumped up with the enthusiasm of a whole generation being ignited with a new space era.

Captain Samuel "RaZZ Larson making his own weather at the Great Pacific Airshow in Huntington Beach, CA.

USAF Thunderbirds creating a perfect "X" during the crossover break at the Great Pacific Airshow in Huntington Beach, California.

That's a Boeing 737-823 passing in front of an 81 per cent waxing Moon. Seen one Tuesday night from the Space Coast of Florida. American Air flight 2323 was traveling from Chicago (ORD) to Miami (MIA) at 34,000ft. and 487kt as it tried to sneak by the Moon.