March 6, 2026 Quick space links
As BtB’s stringer Jay is on vacation, here are two links I spotted that don’t deserve full posts. 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.
- Texas Supreme Court hears oral arguments in lawsuit against SpaceX’s ability to limit access to public beachs
The plaintiffs are the usual suspects — Save RGV, the Sierra Club and the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas — the same fringe activist groups that have been trying to block SpaceX in Boca Chica from day one. Based on the judges’ questions, I suspect this lawsuit has about as much chance of winning as a snowflake in hell.
- Scientists grow chickpeas in simulated lunar soil
They found that the lunar soil became viable for chickpeas when about 25% included a specific fungus and a byproduct of red wiggler earthworm.
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
As BtB’s stringer Jay is on vacation, here are two links I spotted that don’t deserve full posts. 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.
- Texas Supreme Court hears oral arguments in lawsuit against SpaceX’s ability to limit access to public beachs
The plaintiffs are the usual suspects — Save RGV, the Sierra Club and the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas — the same fringe activist groups that have been trying to block SpaceX in Boca Chica from day one. Based on the judges’ questions, I suspect this lawsuit has about as much chance of winning as a snowflake in hell.
- Scientists grow chickpeas in simulated lunar soil
They found that the lunar soil became viable for chickpeas when about 25% included a specific fungus and a byproduct of red wiggler earthworm.
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
Re: The case before the Texas Supreme Court
A telling point in the oral argument:
Justice Young asked if SpaceX were to only conduct one launch per year, would her argument be the same. Perales said their argument, based on the plain language of the Constitution, would be the same.
Really gives the game away: the goal is to drive SpaceX out of the state, make it impossible for them to operate there.
Unfortunately, this absolutist reading of the amendment text doesn’t give the court much to work to with, even if a majority of justices were looking for a middle ground. And judging by the tone and line of questioning by the justices, it’s not likely to end well for petitioners.