April 5, 2023 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- Virgin Orbit COO blasts company management in apology to employees
His public letter really contains no real new details about the company’s failure.
- Sierra Space completes testing of new hypergolic rocket thruster
The company is marketing this engine to others for in-space maneuvering as well for landers going to other planets.
- Tianzhou freighter will fly in formation with China’s Tiangong-3 space station
The plan is to periodically redock the freighter to the station “when inventories stored inside are needed.” Jay wonders whether this is a test of the similar formation flying that will be required when China’s space telescope arrives next year to orbit near the station for periodic maintenance and repair. I think he is correct.
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. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
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.
- Virgin Orbit COO blasts company management in apology to employees
His public letter really contains no real new details about the company’s failure.
- Sierra Space completes testing of new hypergolic rocket thruster
The company is marketing this engine to others for in-space maneuvering as well for landers going to other planets.
- Tianzhou freighter will fly in formation with China’s Tiangong-3 space station
The plan is to periodically redock the freighter to the station “when inventories stored inside are needed.” Jay wonders whether this is a test of the similar formation flying that will be required when China’s space telescope arrives next year to orbit near the station for periodic maintenance and repair. I think he is correct.
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. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. 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
https://twitter.com/pappalardojoe/status/1643633483858735104?s=46&t=cvJVjKrHicguREb6KCkTAg
I suspect Sierra Space is targeting its new, large thruster at the defense market. The Space Force has said that, in addition to pursuing proliferation of space assets as a passive defense strategy, it also intends to seek future generations of sats with the ability to move smartly as an active defense strategy.
This could really make space telescopes cheaper
https://phys.org/news/2023-04-membrane-mirrors-large-space-based-telescopes.html
Green electronics
https://phys.org/news/2023-04-fully-recyclable-electronics-ditch-toxic.html
Solar Flare in the lab
https://phys.org/news/2023-04-laboratory-solar-flares-reveal-clues.html