August 1, 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.
- Intuitive Machines wins $9.8 million government contract to further develop its orbital tug
The press release makes it clear the contract is NOT from NASA, but does not reveal the agency involved.
- Vast touts the testing of the radio systems on its Haven Demo spacecraft
Haven Demo is simply a satellite to test in space the systems Vast plans to use on its Haven-1 space station, with launch before the end of the year. Haven-1 will follow in 2026.
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.
- Intuitive Machines wins $9.8 million government contract to further develop its orbital tug
The press release makes it clear the contract is NOT from NASA, but does not reveal the agency involved.
- Vast touts the testing of the radio systems on its Haven Demo spacecraft
Haven Demo is simply a satellite to test in space the systems Vast plans to use on its Haven-1 space station, with launch before the end of the year. Haven-1 will follow in 2026.
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
The “non-NASA” contract to Intuitive Machines for its orbital tug is pretty obviously from Space Force and is related to Golden Dome. I’ve been figuring for awhile that such tugs will have a significant role to play in the Golden Dome architecture and this news appears to confirm that surmise.
Heat shields were discussed recently… new man-made hexagon diamonds 40% harder, withstanding 2000°F temperature. Diamond encrusted heat tiles?
https://www.sciencealert.com/physicists-create-lab-grown-diamond-even-harder-than-natural
Borazon is better:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boron_nitride
With any luck, it can be wrangled
Yeah. I’d be frankly shocked if this turned out NOT to be the Space Force.
The Space Force is going to be bootstrapping a lot of interesting commercial capabilities in the coming years.
I have no idea what impact it will have on policy, but there is a new space caucus rolling out in the House, and it is bipartisan: The Advancing Humanity in Space Congressional Caucus, which launched last month, is co-chaired by Rep. George Whitesides (D-CA), Rep. Gabe Evans (R-CO), Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), and Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-MD). Payload has a story on it, for those interested:
https://payloadspace.com/new-caucus-promotes-humanity-boldly-going/
(Rep. Ivey, for what it is worth, is my current representative in Congress. And yes, this district includes Goddard.)
Richard M,
A motley crew and a typically misnamed caucus. ‘Advancing Government-Funded Employment in My District Caucus’ would be more accurate. Whitesides, of course, is famous for all of the advancements for humanity in space he achieved while running Virgin Galactic – nearly into the ground. In the great Democratic tradition of electing notable failures to office, he is now a Congressman.
Ivey represents the most Democratic-leaning Congressional district in the US. His constituency is nearly all federal employees. No surprise that those include the headcount at Goddard.
At least your black Congresscritter has a Harvard Law degree. My own black Congresscritter is Maxine Waters. ‘Nuff said.
Evans represents a district that doesn’t quite include ULA’s HQ within its borders, but seems certain to include a lot of its employees. But he’s new to Congress so his influence is negligible at this point.
Bacon is an anti-Trump Republican. He’s also a lame duck, having announced he will not stand for re-election in 2026 – likely because he would have been a prominent target of the Trump administration, the Freedom Caucus and other groups looking to complete the purging of RINOs from the Republican Congressional delegation.
I expect the usual special pleading from this new caucus with little of it having anything much to do with “Humanity in Space.”
Maxine Waters? You poor thing.
She’s the worst idiot of the bunch.