December 1, 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.
- Chinese pseudo-company Landspace has apparently postponed indefinitely the first launch of its Zhuque-3 rocket
Jay says Landspace claims “they canceled because of ‘improper paint on the landing pad.'” Neither he nor I believe that tale. I suspect this delay is related to the creation by the Chinese government of a new agency to supervise all of its pseudo-rocket companies. When rumors of that agency appeared in late October, it was speculated that it would delay this launch as the new bosses stepped in a take over.
- The marine platform to recover the first stage of China’s Long March 10 rocket was delivered yesterday
The tweet includes a video claiming that first stage will be captured on this platform using a complex “cable-catching” system that made no sense, as described.
- On this day in 1955 Neil Armstrong completed the first of his seven X-15 flights
He was a most unusual man, at that time a civilian test pilot working for whoever would hire him to test radical airplane designs. The X-15 was then the most radical, only to be superseded soon thereafter by rockets, which Armstrong then transitioned to as a NASA astronaut.
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.
- Chinese pseudo-company Landspace has apparently postponed indefinitely the first launch of its Zhuque-3 rocket
Jay says Landspace claims “they canceled because of ‘improper paint on the landing pad.'” Neither he nor I believe that tale. I suspect this delay is related to the creation by the Chinese government of a new agency to supervise all of its pseudo-rocket companies. When rumors of that agency appeared in late October, it was speculated that it would delay this launch as the new bosses stepped in a take over.
- The marine platform to recover the first stage of China’s Long March 10 rocket was delivered yesterday
The tweet includes a video claiming that first stage will be captured on this platform using a complex “cable-catching” system that made no sense, as described.
- On this day in 1955 Neil Armstrong completed the first of his seven X-15 flights
He was a most unusual man, at that time a civilian test pilot working for whoever would hire him to test radical airplane designs. The X-15 was then the most radical, only to be superseded soon thereafter by rockets, which Armstrong then transitioned to as a NASA astronaut.
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

