April 30, 2026 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.
- Stress fracture issue on ISS module still unresolved despite air leak stoppage
The article says really little new. The problem is Zvezda, its age, and its eventual failure. That is reality.
- Astrolab touts the installation of headlights on its Flip rover, set to go to the Moon’s south pole on Astrobotic’s Griffin lander
The launch is still targeting the second half of this year.
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. 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.
- Stress fracture issue on ISS module still unresolved despite air leak stoppage
The article says really little new. The problem is Zvezda, its age, and its eventual failure. That is reality.
- Astrolab touts the installation of headlights on its Flip rover, set to go to the Moon’s south pole on Astrobotic’s Griffin lander
The launch is still targeting the second half of this year.
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
“I’m the king of the nighttime world, and you’re my headlight queen.” -Kiss
Patrick Underwood,
Can’t beat that.
So I’ll just comment on the Russian ISS Sieve module. Alternative, but equivalent headlines:
“Stick of Beeman’s Still Holding on Russian ISS Module, but Concerns Remain”
“The Name of Today ends in ‘day’ so Russian ISS Sieve Module Still Source of Concern”
“Astrolab touts the installation of headlights . . . ”
Breaking news from 1898.
Blair Ivey,
Hey, don’t mock. The characters in H.G. Well’s The First Men in the Moon (1901) didn’t even have a vehicle. Ford’s 1896 Quadricycle had no lights. Neither did any of the lunar dune buggies from the ’70s – strictly dayrunners they were. Lunar South Pole environs will be very film noir-ish. Lights are a necessity.
I am not discounting the necessity for lighting; it is a requirement, as you say. It is *because* lights are critical, that the announcement struck me. It seems like announcing that batteries, or some other mundane (the word de jour) bit of machinery has been installed.
Now even Matt Walsh is being weirded out about missing scientists..more than one north of me
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpDAvE9kgYk&pp=0gcJCd4KAYcqIYzv
Blair Ivey,
Hey, an assembly milestone is an assembly milestone. As someone once said, the road to success is paved with relentless self-promotion.
For those who haven’t heard: We have a Flight 12 update. Courtesy of NSF’s Ryan Caton:
—
BREAKING: Starship Flight 12 NET May 12, 22:30 UTC / 17:30 CDT
An advisory has appeared on the CADENA Operational Information System.
– NEW Trajectory
– Afternoon Launch Window
The window spans 22:30 – 00:43 UTC, which is 17:30 – 19:43 Starbase local time.
—
More details at his X post:
https://x.com/i/status/2050237415596372269
Obviously, this is subject to change; we are 11 days out, and SpaceX hasn’t made a formal announcement yet.
I don’t think Astrolab’s headlights announcement is a major one, but I am never going to nick a space company contracted for this sort of thing for proving extra transparency on its progress.
Reuters has just posted this story:
“SpaceX has spent more than $15 billion developing its next-generation Starship rocket, according to the company’s IPO registration reviewed by Reuters, a sum that dwarfs the cost of its workhorse Falcon rocket as Elon Musk’s space company nears a decade trying to perfect a fully reusable launch system.”
https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/spacex-spending-starship-tops-15-billion-rush-airline-like-rocketry-2026-05-01/
Warning: that is behind a paywall. Here’s a TNW article on it that is not:
https://thenextweb.com/news/spacex-has-spent-more-than-15-billion-on-starship-and-is-racing-to-make-rocketry-resemble-an-airline-schedule
It does not appear that the IPO docs are public yet, otherwise I’d post a link.
I don’t think the $15B price tag is a huge surprise to most of us. The infrastructure alone we have seen is staggering.
Richard M: That price tag shouldn’t be news to BtB readers. I reported that it had raised $12 billion in 2023 for developing Starship/Starlink, with numerous subsequent reports suggesting a lot more money was coming in from Starlink revenues.
Some help for tough math
https://phys.org/news/2026-05-ai-tackles-math-brutal-problems.html
Hopefully this work-around will aid aerospace
Acoustic waves in solids
https://phys.org/news/2026-05-ai-tackles-math-brutal-problems.html
With better maths and acoustic research, perhaps rocketry advancements won’t require as many explosions.
I still haven’t seen A.I. actually develop launch vehicles. LEAP engines, yes….
Blast
https://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology-news3/newsid=69281.php
Richard M,
Indeed. They’re building out so much in the way of factories, launch sites, etc., hiring thousands of people, and of course, building dozens of prototypes. All that and yet they’ve only spent about a quarter of what NASA has spent on the SLS and Orion together, while being dramatically more ambitious. Makes you wish that someone else besides Isaacman had approached NASA with a sense of fiscal responsibility before now.
I just thought of something NASA could do.
Empty out the whole Module.
Then put in a few laser range finders that can measure down to a few thousandths.
They could put three of four of them inside and record all the measurements on a laptop.
Then they will be able to tell how much it flexes through the day night cycle, through the docking all over the ISS. Through the altitude adjustments.
Bingo for less than 10 thousand bucks you have more answers than you do now.
Dick Eagleson, nice!
What about that old American favorite… baling wire?
That’s why the Russians are failing.
And yes. I was a crazy adolescent-male Kiss fan. Still am.
Somewhat disappointingly, KISS (the band), is not an acronym.
Rock And Roll All Nite, baby.
Patrick Underwood,
Baling wire might help. But it would have to be wrapped around the outside of the module and then tightened up by twisting. A lot of EVA work for the Russkies.