August 7, 2023 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- InSight archival data suggests Mars’ rotation is increasing four milliarcseconds per year
If confirmed, this equals a shortening in time of about a fraction of one thousands of a second each year.
- Amazon confirms its first two Kuiper test satellites will launch on an Atlas-5 rocket, not on the first Vulcan
This change was first revealed in mid-July, but not confirmed by Amazon. The delays at ULA with Vulcan have put Amazon under real pressure, as its FCC license requires it to place in orbit about 1,600 satellites by July 2026.
- Chinese pseudo-company Orienspace says it has completed testing of its Gravity-1 solid-fueled rocket
The company is now targeting December ’24 for its first orbital test launch, lifting off from a sea platform.
- For Dropbox members, a translated press kit of Russia’s Luna-25 mission
The key takeaways: The lander is just that. It will operate for a year, excavating and analyzing soil samples, but it has no roving capabilities. The kit also includes thumbnail descriptions of Russia’s next three lunar missions, one orbiter and two more landers, all of which by the way are delayed.
- JAXA PR magazine publishes article showing a mini-shuttle launched by an H-IIA variant with four solid-fueled boosters
Pure fantasy, very typical for a government agency that has utterly failed to give Japan a thriving space industry. Instead, it can’t develop a competitive rocket, forcing all of the country’s space business to go elsewhere.
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.
- InSight archival data suggests Mars’ rotation is increasing four milliarcseconds per year
If confirmed, this equals a shortening in time of about a fraction of one thousands of a second each year.
- Amazon confirms its first two Kuiper test satellites will launch on an Atlas-5 rocket, not on the first Vulcan
This change was first revealed in mid-July, but not confirmed by Amazon. The delays at ULA with Vulcan have put Amazon under real pressure, as its FCC license requires it to place in orbit about 1,600 satellites by July 2026.
- Chinese pseudo-company Orienspace says it has completed testing of its Gravity-1 solid-fueled rocket
The company is now targeting December ’24 for its first orbital test launch, lifting off from a sea platform.
- For Dropbox members, a translated press kit of Russia’s Luna-25 mission
The key takeaways: The lander is just that. It will operate for a year, excavating and analyzing soil samples, but it has no roving capabilities. The kit also includes thumbnail descriptions of Russia’s next three lunar missions, one orbiter and two more landers, all of which by the way are delayed.
- JAXA PR magazine publishes article showing a mini-shuttle launched by an H-IIA variant with four solid-fueled boosters
Pure fantasy, very typical for a government agency that has utterly failed to give Japan a thriving space industry. Instead, it can’t develop a competitive rocket, forcing all of the country’s space business to go elsewhere.
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
There is a report that removing too much CO2 could move Hadley cells…from Korea