April 2, 2026 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.
- For those interested… The Orion toilet is in the floor of the spacecraft
At the moment it is working after a short blip early on.
- Tracking Orion and its upper stage in orbit
Footage comes from the company s2a, which provides situational awareness imagery for both the military and civilian satellite users.
- Japan’s Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) spacecraft arrives at Tanegashima spaceport
Set to launch in ’26, it will attempt to bring back a sample from Phobos.
- Amazon still negotiating its acquisition of Globalstar
It appears Apple’s 20 per cent stake in Globalstar is complicating the deal.
- Roscosmos head says Russia’s post-ISS station would be assembled at ISS
Supposedly they will add a new docking hub there, attach new modules, and eventually separate. The real question is whether they can get it built and launched in time, as Roscosmos has not done such a thing in decades.
- On this day in 1960, the world’s first weather satellite, TIROS-1, was launched
Its imagery was first to see true weather patterns, changing forever the science of meteorology.
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.
- For those interested… The Orion toilet is in the floor of the spacecraft
At the moment it is working after a short blip early on.
- Tracking Orion and its upper stage in orbit
Footage comes from the company s2a, which provides situational awareness imagery for both the military and civilian satellite users.
- Japan’s Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) spacecraft arrives at Tanegashima spaceport
Set to launch in ’26, it will attempt to bring back a sample from Phobos.
- Amazon still negotiating its acquisition of Globalstar
It appears Apple’s 20 per cent stake in Globalstar is complicating the deal.
- Roscosmos head says Russia’s post-ISS station would be assembled at ISS
Supposedly they will add a new docking hub there, attach new modules, and eventually separate. The real question is whether they can get it built and launched in time, as Roscosmos has not done such a thing in decades.
- On this day in 1960, the world’s first weather satellite, TIROS-1, was launched
Its imagery was first to see true weather patterns, changing forever the science of meteorology.
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


Go for trans lunar injection!
https://x.com/spaceflightnow/status/2039818712568520817?s=46