April 13, 2023 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, sent these out on time but was stymied when his email bounced back hours later.
I say, better late than never.
- A stock analyst reviews the possible buyers of ULA should the sales rumor be true
He concludes that Lockheed Martin is the mostly likely buyer. His analysis makes great sense.
- NASA official expresses confidence that New Glenn will launch its ESCAPADE Mars orbiters on time in 2024
ESCAPADE was originally going to launch as a secondary payload with Psyche, and lost that launch when Psyche was delayed. Whether New Glenn will be ready for its 2024 launch window however remains very unknown, especially because this same official has admitted the launch date is still “approximate and provisional,” and there already are reports that New Glenn won’t make its first launch until 2025.
- Russian documentary about its Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan
I haven’t yet watched it. It is 38 minutes long and in Russian, though if you set the subtitles to English you’ll get a rough auto-translation.
- Russia now says it will launch its Venera-D mission to Venus in June 2031
As Anatoly Zak correctly notes, this mission was originally supposed to launch in 2013. That would make it only eighteen years behind schedule, assuming Roscosmos can meet that 2031 date, an assumption that is wildly unrealistic.
- Firefly successfully completes full duration static fire test of Alpha rocket first stage set for launch this month
The Space Force payload is aimed at proving the ability to launch rapidly.
- China touts its concept of a lunar brick-making robot it plans to launch on its Chang’e-8 mission
Nothing here but some pretty pictures.
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, sent these out on time but was stymied when his email bounced back hours later.
I say, better late than never.
- A stock analyst reviews the possible buyers of ULA should the sales rumor be true
He concludes that Lockheed Martin is the mostly likely buyer. His analysis makes great sense.
- NASA official expresses confidence that New Glenn will launch its ESCAPADE Mars orbiters on time in 2024
ESCAPADE was originally going to launch as a secondary payload with Psyche, and lost that launch when Psyche was delayed. Whether New Glenn will be ready for its 2024 launch window however remains very unknown, especially because this same official has admitted the launch date is still “approximate and provisional,” and there already are reports that New Glenn won’t make its first launch until 2025.
- Russian documentary about its Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan
I haven’t yet watched it. It is 38 minutes long and in Russian, though if you set the subtitles to English you’ll get a rough auto-translation.
- Russia now says it will launch its Venera-D mission to Venus in June 2031
As Anatoly Zak correctly notes, this mission was originally supposed to launch in 2013. That would make it only eighteen years behind schedule, assuming Roscosmos can meet that 2031 date, an assumption that is wildly unrealistic.
- Firefly successfully completes full duration static fire test of Alpha rocket first stage set for launch this month
The Space Force payload is aimed at proving the ability to launch rapidly.
- China touts its concept of a lunar brick-making robot it plans to launch on its Chang’e-8 mission
Nothing here but some pretty pictures.
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
Lockheed really does make the most sense as the buyer – just as Boeing wanting to cash out makes sense as the reason for this sale in the first place.
But ULA really does need to get Vulcan certified as soon as possible. We may be reaching a point where DoD might need to start switching launches to SpaceX.