Photos: Atlas 5 rocket soars from West Coast

In nearly five years on the job as Boeing’s Space Launch System program manager, John Shannon has presided over the completion of the first SLS core stage inside a cavernous factory in New Orleans.

Singed and blackened from three fiery trips to the edge of space and back, a Falcon 9 rocket returned to Cape Canaveral on Sunday after a mission last that week carried the Israeli Beresheet moon lander into orbit, ready for inspections before attempting a fourth — and likely final — launch this spring.

Eagle? Freedom? GalaxyOne? United Launch Alliance wants public input in the naming of a next-generation launcher designed to replace the historic Atlas and Delta rocket lines in the 2020s.