July 20, 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.
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- Blue Origin touts the completion of the new launch table for its rebuilt Florida New Glenn launchpad
Video at the link is cool. The table is essentially the base on which the rocket sits. It still needs final inspection and checkouts.
- First launch of China’s Mengzhou manned capsule likely delayed into early 2027
Its first flight will be unmanned, to the Tiangong-3 station. It main purpose however is to be the manned capsule for China’s lunar missions. The delay is attributed to getting the ground facilities for the Long March 10 rocket completed.
- Saudi space officials meet with Chinese space officials
No specific cooperative space projects were announced, only vague statements about working together on a variety of “space technologies.”
- Spectacular video from orbit of the July 14, 2026 manned Soyuz launch from Baikonur
The footage was taken from ISS by astronaut Chris Williams.
- On July 20, 1965 the Soviet’s Zond-3 spacecraft flew past the Moon’s far side
Its high resolution imagery covered about 30% of the far side not seen previously.
- On July 18, 1966 John Young and Michael Collins launched on the Gemini 10 mission
They were the first to achieve a clean docking in space, with no problems. After docking with their own Agena target, they then rendezvoused with the Agena target that Gemini 8 had docked with but shortly thereafter had to make an emergency undocking and return to Earth due to an unexpected thruster firing. Collins then did a spacewalk across to that Gemini 8 Agena, traveling across about 10 feet of space.
- On July 20, 1969: “Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.”
The link provides the view out the window during Apollo 11’s descent and landing, with the astronaut’s voices, mostly Buzz Aldrin reading numbers to Armstrong, with Armstrong making the final most important announcement, after touch down.
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 remember when Viking 1 landed. There was disappointment a few days earlier when the landing site was obscured by a dust storm, so it couldn’t touch down on July 4 in observance of the Bicentennial. But, July 20 was an equally appropriate date because of Apollo 11.
I vaguely recall watching news about it on TV and the reaction to the first pictures was enthusiastic. But those were in black and white. There was joyous hooting and hollering when the first colour photos were received, followed by some bewilderment. Few people expected Mars to have an orange sky and there were suggestions that the data for those pictures was incorrect. (If I’m not mistaken, I believe that the Bicentennial insignia on the side of the lander was used as a way of checking the colour.) It was soon determined that the orange sky was due to dust in the atmosphere.
Back then, Viking 1 was a front-page headline news in papers across Canada.
I remember that the first color picture was released color corrected with a blue sky, in the mistaken idea that the sky couldn’t be orange.
Come to think of it, I believe you’re right. I remember that there was some discussion about which sky colour was correct.
“On July 20 1976 (50 years ago today), the first photographs of Mars from Viking 1 were taken 25 seconds after landing”
And, like a lot of tourists, got their foot in the shot.
Those who grew up on Ray Bradbury were disappointed; and I’m curious if anyone has seen Robinson Crusoe On Mars (1964)?
A very good movie. I have it in my collection.
I first saw it at a Saturday afternoon matinee at the local cinema in the town where I grew up. I liked it a lot.
One reason why it was so good was that it was largely based on the best science and engineering at the time. For example, the escape craft were based on the Gemini design. The Crusoe character had a bulky, though portable, video library/computer/radio with him. (That idea had been proposed for Apollo.)
The movie was released before Mariner 4’s flyby, so the portrayal of the martian landscape and environment was largely speculative, though plausible.
Watch for Adam West in a pre-Batman role.
“Blue Origin touts the completion of the new launch table for its rebuilt Florida New Glenn launchpad”
As Mark Knopfler might have said:
Now look at them workers, that’s the way you do it
You know them guys ain’t dumb
That’s sure ‘nough workin’, that’s the way you do it
Money gets paid, when the work gets done
Apollo 11 Complete Descent July 20, 1969
Apollo Flight Journal (July 2019)
https://youtu.be/xc1SzgGhMKc
19:52
Apollo 11 Descent Synced with LRO Imagery
https://youtu.be/YKXw_3Pblh8
4:51
Apollo 11
MCC—Go/No-Go & the 1201 Alarm (at 102:42:05 GET)
16mm film synced w/ air-ground audio
Apollo Flight Journal
https://youtu.be/bYMHAWAK7hk
0:56