June 20, 2023 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- An analysis of the landing failure of Hakuto-R1
This is thirty minute presentation, which concludes that though there was a failure of the software, in the end the failure was due to management errors, including changing the landing site without doing sufficient simulations.
- Boeing CEO says company still committed to Starliner
Sounds good, eh? Don’t bet on it. The company is almost a billion dollars in the hole due to the extra costs incurred because the project’s failure, with no sign yet of any income in the near future.
- Delta-4 Heavy launch scheduled for tonight, at 3:29 am Eastern
This will be the first Delta-4 Heavy launch in almost three years. More significant, it will be ULA’s first launch in 2023, a number that is even lower that its low launch numbers of recent years. At this pace it will be a challenge for ULA to match its lowest launch counts of five, from ’19 and ’21. UPDATE: Scrubbed, reschedule 24 hours later.
- Anonymous source says Blue Origin will now require in-office work, five days per week
The source’s whining about this is amusing, but it also suggests once again the culture and management at Blue Origin is not the best.
- China claims it has a large alliance of space-faring nations who have agreed to partner on its lunar base
Except for Russia and the UAE, all are small time third world nations with no space infrastructure. Many have also not made a commitment, simply opened discussions. Russia will contribute little, and the UAE has a conflict as it also wants to participate in Artemis. U.S. law makes participating in both very very difficult, if not impossible.
- China’s state-run press deletes comments from professor claiming NASA had agreed to use China’s Queqiao lunar relay communications satellite
Either the professor was misinformed, or he revealed illegal negotiations by Biden’s NASA that NASA didn’t want revealed. If the latter, there was probably a frantic call made to China by the White House, begging them to censor this information, and China gladly obliged.
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.
- An analysis of the landing failure of Hakuto-R1
This is thirty minute presentation, which concludes that though there was a failure of the software, in the end the failure was due to management errors, including changing the landing site without doing sufficient simulations.
- Boeing CEO says company still committed to Starliner
Sounds good, eh? Don’t bet on it. The company is almost a billion dollars in the hole due to the extra costs incurred because the project’s failure, with no sign yet of any income in the near future.
- Delta-4 Heavy launch scheduled for tonight, at 3:29 am Eastern
This will be the first Delta-4 Heavy launch in almost three years. More significant, it will be ULA’s first launch in 2023, a number that is even lower that its low launch numbers of recent years. At this pace it will be a challenge for ULA to match its lowest launch counts of five, from ’19 and ’21. UPDATE: Scrubbed, reschedule 24 hours later.
- Anonymous source says Blue Origin will now require in-office work, five days per week
The source’s whining about this is amusing, but it also suggests once again the culture and management at Blue Origin is not the best.
- China claims it has a large alliance of space-faring nations who have agreed to partner on its lunar base
Except for Russia and the UAE, all are small time third world nations with no space infrastructure. Many have also not made a commitment, simply opened discussions. Russia will contribute little, and the UAE has a conflict as it also wants to participate in Artemis. U.S. law makes participating in both very very difficult, if not impossible.
- China’s state-run press deletes comments from professor claiming NASA had agreed to use China’s Queqiao lunar relay communications satellite
Either the professor was misinformed, or he revealed illegal negotiations by Biden’s NASA that NASA didn’t want revealed. If the latter, there was probably a frantic call made to China by the White House, begging them to censor this information, and China gladly obliged.
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
The comments under the Blue Origin piece are disconcerting, it just demonstrates the ongoing reason why so little is happening there. I don’t know which organization concerns me more, Blue Origin or Boeing.
Minor edit in Hakuto paragraph: “due to management errors”
“[Boeing] is almost a billion dollars in the hole due to the extra costs incurred because the project’s failure, with no sign yet of any income in the near future.”
But look at the thousands of dollars they saved by outsourcing the software coding! Boeing management is so smart!
Andi: Thank you. Fixed.