April 29, 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.
- Astroforge touts the successful test of a new thruster “with our avionics and flight hardware at all planned power levels”
They also tested its ability to gimbal.
- China touts its new factory for mass producing its Kinetica-2 (Lijian-2) rocket
The rocket is built by the pseudo-company CAS Space, which is entirely owned by one of China’s government space agencies.
- In April 1965, the U.S. launched its first and only space reactor into space
SNAP-10A was a sodium-potassium-cooled fast reactor for powering satellites.
- 25 years ago today, Dennis Tito became the first space tourist, launching aboard a Soyuz capsule
Tito paid the Russians $20 million for his nearly eight-day spaceflight, six days of which were on ISS. NASA officials initially objected, opposed to the idea of allowing capitalism and freedom on the station, but had to back down because the Russians insisted such ideas were viable and should be supported.
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.
- Astroforge touts the successful test of a new thruster “with our avionics and flight hardware at all planned power levels”
They also tested its ability to gimbal.
- China touts its new factory for mass producing its Kinetica-2 (Lijian-2) rocket
The rocket is built by the pseudo-company CAS Space, which is entirely owned by one of China’s government space agencies.
- In April 1965, the U.S. launched its first and only space reactor into space
SNAP-10A was a sodium-potassium-cooled fast reactor for powering satellites.
- 25 years ago today, Dennis Tito became the first space tourist, launching aboard a Soyuz capsule
Tito paid the Russians $20 million for his nearly eight-day spaceflight, six days of which were on ISS. NASA officials initially objected, opposed to the idea of allowing capitalism and freedom on the station, but had to back down because the Russians insisted such ideas were viable and should be supported.
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
A big step for carbon-fiber latticework via “3D node winding:”
https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-ultralight-carbon-fiber-lattices-aluminum.html
Artificial muscles
https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-programmable-3d-filaments-mimic-artificial.html