August 9, 2023 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- Firefly unveils its own proposed space tug
The call it Elytra, and it comes in three versions designed to service satellites flying anywhere from low Earth orbit to other planets
- Rocket Lab signs contracts for ten Electron launches plus one suborbital HASTE launch
Black Sky bought five launches, Synspective bought two, and the other three were government purchases. In other words, private enterprise is beginning to dominate the smallsat rocket market.
- Chandrayaan-3 completes second burn to lower lunar orbit
All things continue to look good for a August 23, 2023 touchdown on the Moon.
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
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- Firefly unveils its own proposed space tug
The call it Elytra, and it comes in three versions designed to service satellites flying anywhere from low Earth orbit to other planets
- Rocket Lab signs contracts for ten Electron launches plus one suborbital HASTE launch
Black Sky bought five launches, Synspective bought two, and the other three were government purchases. In other words, private enterprise is beginning to dominate the smallsat rocket market.
- Chandrayaan-3 completes second burn to lower lunar orbit
All things continue to look good for a August 23, 2023 touchdown on the Moon.
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
Non Newtonian gravity paper …
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ace101
I don’t know if it’s something with your site here or not, but as of about a week ago, unless I do a force-refresh when I visit, it doesn’t update and I just see a cached copy of whatever was up the last time I visited. For several days I thought you weren’t just posting even though interesting things were happening for you to post about.
David Eastman: Usually that is an issue with a setting in your browser. Considering this doesn’t appear to be happening to others (including myself), that is where I would look first if I were you.
I will however raise the question with my webguy.
Mr Z.
I have had the same issue as Mr Eastman.
It seems to vary from browser to browser. I had two devices open, with your page up just last night, hit refresh on both , and the latest post on one device remained one from 3 days ago.
I’m having the same issue, starting about the same time. Just your site, not others. It didn’t used to operate this way. FYI.
I too noticed this update lag here. Forced refresh brought up new text, however the Evening Pause embedded video did not refresh. Funny how video description was for new video but showing was the video from day or two ago. A second refresh corrected this yesterday. Today’s EP with the “hippie chick” was correct.
I also needed to do a forced browercache to see updates to pages. I have seen web hosting sites have bad config for handling the send-if-modified-since http header. Sorry I dont have time to diagnose this web site.
To George C
Any implications on spaceflight from that gravity paper
Mr Z, I think it is 10 new launches, including the Haste.
Their [platform formerly known as twitter] is not worded great.
But the numbers in the slide match what Peter Beck said in the Q2 results call.
He was also asked about Haste, if these are bought as a package or bundle (contract for 3 or 5 launches at a time, for example).
He defected on the answer, basically implying “it’s classified”. And not by Rocket Lab.
Additionally, like most of the recent history, their Space Services division is bringing in more money than their launch services.
They also made an interesting, very tailored claim:
“At 36 successful launches, Electron has launched more than 5x the successful missions of all new small rocket entrants combined globally.”
To all: My webguy did some updates and checks. Please let me know if the situation improves, or not.
.em rof enif skroW
James Street: You remind me of a 1950s Mad Magazine joke by the artist/writer Bill Elder: “Do your feet smell and your nose runs? You’re built upside down!”
Seems better.