November 12, 2025 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.
- Northern Lights set to dazzle UK and US this week due to possible ‘severe’ geomagnetic storm
From Jay: “I saw it outside while observing the Starlink ‘train’ of satellites, a deep red color. NOAA has it listed as a ‘G4 (severe) storm.'” Sounds terrible, but don’t panic. The biggest threat is to the power grid, and utilities have now spent decades planning for these kinds of storms.
- On this day in 1966, NASA launched the last Gemini mission, Gemini-12
Jim Lovell and Buzz Aldrin spent close to three days in orbit, with Aldrin performing three spacewalks, proving it was possible to do productive work in a spacesuit.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.
- Northern Lights set to dazzle UK and US this week due to possible ‘severe’ geomagnetic storm
From Jay: “I saw it outside while observing the Starlink ‘train’ of satellites, a deep red color. NOAA has it listed as a ‘G4 (severe) storm.'” Sounds terrible, but don’t panic. The biggest threat is to the power grid, and utilities have now spent decades planning for these kinds of storms.
- On this day in 1966, NASA launched the last Gemini mission, Gemini-12
Jim Lovell and Buzz Aldrin spent close to three days in orbit, with Aldrin performing three spacewalks, proving it was possible to do productive work in a spacesuit.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News


I live in SW Indiana and the aurora filled the northern half of the sky from about 11 PM until shortly before daybreak. I took pictures for my wife, who was on a work trip at Fort Worth, TX. She couldn’t see them because of light pollution, but I’ve seen pictures of the aurora taken as far south a El Salvador. Last night must’ve been one of the most powerful solar storms since the Carrington Event.
The solar storm delays the launch of the Mars Escapade mission.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/ongoing-solar-storm-delays-blue-origin-launch-of-nasa-mars-probes
Intense solar storm delays Blue Origin launch of NASA Mars probes
News
By Josh Dinner published 8 hours ago
There’s definitely some irony in ESCAPADE’s Mars space weather probes being delayed by space weather.