April 24, 2025 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.
- Senate committee schedules April 30, 2025 for its vote on Jared Isaacman’s nomination for NASA administrator
If approved, his nomination will then advance to the full Senate for a vote. Expect this to proceed with little opposition.
- Sierra Space touts the micrometeorite impact testing it is doing for its LIFE inflatable manned modules
Unlike its Orbital Reef space station partner, Blue Origin, Sierra Space continues to cut metal and do testing of hardware in developing its part of that proposed station.
- Boeing reports progress on Starliner
Not really. This article as well as the company’s conference call provided little real information, other than the company does appear to be committed to getting Starliner finally operational.
- Rocket Lab wins another contract for its HASTE suborbital version of its Electron rocket
The contract is for doing a hypersonic test for the Defense Department, and I suspect it is part of a larger Pentagon award announced earlier this week.
- Blue Origin touts a successful 15-second static fire test of an upgraded New Glenn upper stage
This is in preparation for the second New Glenn launch, tentatively scheduled for May.
- China touts a viewgraph outlining the plan for its Mars sample return mission
An additional propaganda video provides more information in the text on the screen. All this is part of the PR push China initiated today in conjunction with the launch of three astronauts to its Tiangong-3 station.
- FAA reschedules virtual meeting for public comment on SpaceX’s request to increase launches in Florida from 50 to 120 per year
The previous meeting was scrubbed due to a major Zoom outage. The meeting relates to the FAA’s environmental reassessment, which though still delaying things somehow seems to be less of a threat with Trump in office. At a minimum the FAA is no longer delaying things simply because it needs to fill out some paperwork.
- ESA/NASA release some new Hubble Space Telescope images to celebrate the telescope’s 35 anniversay in space
Some very cool images at the link. However, in truth the telescope didn’t start to really do its thing until three years later, after astronauts installed equipment to correct its out-of-focus mirror.
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. 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.
- Senate committee schedules April 30, 2025 for its vote on Jared Isaacman’s nomination for NASA administrator
If approved, his nomination will then advance to the full Senate for a vote. Expect this to proceed with little opposition.
- Sierra Space touts the micrometeorite impact testing it is doing for its LIFE inflatable manned modules
Unlike its Orbital Reef space station partner, Blue Origin, Sierra Space continues to cut metal and do testing of hardware in developing its part of that proposed station.
- Boeing reports progress on Starliner
Not really. This article as well as the company’s conference call provided little real information, other than the company does appear to be committed to getting Starliner finally operational.
- Rocket Lab wins another contract for its HASTE suborbital version of its Electron rocket
The contract is for doing a hypersonic test for the Defense Department, and I suspect it is part of a larger Pentagon award announced earlier this week.
- Blue Origin touts a successful 15-second static fire test of an upgraded New Glenn upper stage
This is in preparation for the second New Glenn launch, tentatively scheduled for May.
- China touts a viewgraph outlining the plan for its Mars sample return mission
An additional propaganda video provides more information in the text on the screen. All this is part of the PR push China initiated today in conjunction with the launch of three astronauts to its Tiangong-3 station.
- FAA reschedules virtual meeting for public comment on SpaceX’s request to increase launches in Florida from 50 to 120 per year
The previous meeting was scrubbed due to a major Zoom outage. The meeting relates to the FAA’s environmental reassessment, which though still delaying things somehow seems to be less of a threat with Trump in office. At a minimum the FAA is no longer delaying things simply because it needs to fill out some paperwork.
- ESA/NASA release some new Hubble Space Telescope images to celebrate the telescope’s 35 anniversay in space
Some very cool images at the link. However, in truth the telescope didn’t start to really do its thing until three years later, after astronauts installed equipment to correct its out-of-focus mirror.
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
An “Election” rocket sounds cool, but I’m betting you meant Electron. Personally, I’m starting to get excited at the prospect of the Neutron.
Jared Isaacman’s nomination being reported favorably out of committee will be another big step, but won’t put him in the Administrator’s chair just yet. I hope the full Senate can vote on his nomination as early in May as possible. There’s stuff needs doin’ and time’s a-wastin.’
So Boeing is sticking with Starliner.
I don’t know the terms of the NASA deal but I guess Boeing figures if they can do a few crew missions to ISS they’ll get paid enough to cover the additional costs. Otherwise Starliner looks like a dead end.
ISS will be deorbited in the not distant future, unlikely to be replaced by another NASA station. Even if Starliner becomes safe and reliable it is still likely to be too costly to compete transporting people to private stations or doing space tourism. At least ULA’s Vulcan can line up some US military and spy agency launches to limp along.
Curious if it would be possible (or feasible) for a private Mars Sample Return. Ahead of the Chinese. That would be Capitalism spiking the football.
Blair, I suspect Elon’s response to your question would be “Here, hold my beer a minute…”
Ray, Elon has said he’s putting Optimus robots on the 2026 (or 2028, if you prefer) Mars flights, and that several Starship landers will make the journey. If I were writing a Heinlein D.D. Harriman knockoff, I might imagine Elon, er, D.D.:
-Putting some robots and a Tesla in the payload bay of a couple (for redundancy) Starships
-Putting a 2-stage Dragon-based hypergolic direct-ascent/return vehicle in the payload bay of a couple Starships
-Landing near the Perseverance samples but not close enough to set off NASA’s bio contamination alarms
-Road-tripping a couple highly sterilized Optimi in a Tesla to retrieve the samples
-Dividing the samples between the two return vehicles (if both survived), again for redundancy
-Launching the samples back to Earth
Of course I have no idea what I’m talking about engineering-wise, but it makes a good story.
Sea level dip
https://thedebrief.org/radian-aerospace-reveals-next-generation-spacecraft-material-dur-e-therm-designed-to-withstand-single-stage-to-orbit-flight/