November 14, 2024 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.
- Vast touts the fast pace it is setting in building its Haven-1 single module space station
The company is attempting to beat all the other space station consortiums, and do it without any NASA money.
- Scientist discover an unexpected supermassive black hole in the early universe swallowing matter 40x faster than theories predict
I want everyone to say this all together: “The uncertainty of science!”
- ESA touts its plans to build a low cost, super heavy-lift reusable rocket
The space agency asked two European rocket companies to propose concepts, from which ESA will then decide what to do. Or to put it another way, ESA is still designing and owning the rocket instead of getting the product from the private sector. This rocket will therefore be the same kind of failure that Ariane-6 has been, expensive, inefficient, and uncompetitive.
- On this day in 1984 shuttle astronauts captured the malfunctioning Westar-6 satellite so that it could be brought back to Earth for resale
The insurance company resold the repaired satellite and it was later relaunched.
- On this day in 1969 the second manned mission to the Moon, Apollo 12, was launched
Pete Conrad would land within walking distance of the unmanned Surveyor-3 lander, which had touched down there in 1967.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.
- Vast touts the fast pace it is setting in building its Haven-1 single module space station
The company is attempting to beat all the other space station consortiums, and do it without any NASA money.
- Scientist discover an unexpected supermassive black hole in the early universe swallowing matter 40x faster than theories predict
I want everyone to say this all together: “The uncertainty of science!”
- ESA touts its plans to build a low cost, super heavy-lift reusable rocket
The space agency asked two European rocket companies to propose concepts, from which ESA will then decide what to do. Or to put it another way, ESA is still designing and owning the rocket instead of getting the product from the private sector. This rocket will therefore be the same kind of failure that Ariane-6 has been, expensive, inefficient, and uncompetitive.
- On this day in 1984 shuttle astronauts captured the malfunctioning Westar-6 satellite so that it could be brought back to Earth for resale
The insurance company resold the repaired satellite and it was later relaunched.
- On this day in 1969 the second manned mission to the Moon, Apollo 12, was launched
Pete Conrad would land within walking distance of the unmanned Surveyor-3 lander, which had touched down there in 1967.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Today’s APOD is a 3D anaglyph of Pete Conrad inspecting Surveyor 3.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241115.html
Let’s help ESA save billions of Euros and encourage them to ask Mr. Musk if his newfangled rocket has a licensed manufacturing option. This way, they don’t have to re-invent any wheels, they receive engineering updates at a rapid pace, their timeline is compressed tremendously, and they can share in the use of compatible launch and recovery facilities in far flung places.
If someone in authority at ESA hasn’t at least explored this option with SpaceX, the core of ESA leadership there needs to walk away.
”Let’s help ESA save billions of Euros and encourage them to ask Mr. Musk if his newfangled rocket has a licensed manufacturing option…”
That misses the entire point. Starship is not European.
”If someone in authority at ESA hasn’t at least explored this option with SpaceX, the core of ESA leadership there needs to walk away.”
If anyone in authority made any such official inquiry, he’d likely be fired.
Vast’s fast pace at building its Haven-1 single module space station is a good thing. It shows that the company is following SpaceX’s example of rapid development and early revenue service. Beating the other space stations gives it an advantage over the other space station companies and consortia, similar to Starlink’s advantage. Plus, fast development means they don’t spend money slow marching, so they are less likely to run out of money before they can start generating revenue. Doing it without NASA money means that NASA won’t slow down development by directing Vast’s methods and demanding unnecessary changes.
I did not expect the qualification unit to look different in shape and length than the Haven 1 flight unit or different even than the proposed Haven 2 modules.
Vast is also following SpaceX’s lead in being quite vertically integrated. No surprise given how many of its senior techies are SpaceX alumni.