August 16, 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.
- The Exploration Company touts a picture of its first test Nyx cargo capsule
Sadly the tweet tells us nothing about the capsule and its status. For all we know, this might not even be flight model, or it might be a smaller scale test capsule (which is what I think it is).
- Sierra Space touts its Shooting Star cargo module, which will fly with its Tenacity mini-shuttle
This module is essentially Tenacity’s service module. It will carry cargo into orbit, but will not return to Earth, but burn up in the atmosphere. Still no word on an actual launch date.
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.
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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.
- The Exploration Company touts a picture of its first test Nyx cargo capsule
Sadly the tweet tells us nothing about the capsule and its status. For all we know, this might not even be flight model, or it might be a smaller scale test capsule (which is what I think it is).
- Sierra Space touts its Shooting Star cargo module, which will fly with its Tenacity mini-shuttle
This module is essentially Tenacity’s service module. It will carry cargo into orbit, but will not return to Earth, but burn up in the atmosphere. Still no word on an actual launch date.
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.
Mr. Z.,
You could be right about the pictured capsule. Previous renderings of Nyx capsules I’ve seen pictured them as conical and of moderate size, like the one behind those two guys in the photo. But the art on The Exploration Company’s current website shows quite a large vehicle that looks a lot more “gum-droppy” in shape, resembling a Cargo Dragon quite a bit. It even has a very Dragon-esque trunk.
The apparent growth in size of the vehicle might have something to do with the economics of smaller, post-ISS space stations. It will still be fairly expensive to send freight to these and get downmass back so less-frequent flights of a larger vehicle might be more optimally economical. There’s a lot about post-ISS Commercial LEO space stations that may well flummox even the best advanced planning.
Off topic.
Dick Eagleson. Is your Boeing sparring partner conspicuously absent lately?
john hare,
Not sure who you mean unless possibly mkent. I guess maybe we’ve sparred a bit about matters involving Boeing, but I’ve also agreed with him on other things. Compared to many other forums, Mr. Z’s, here, is inclined to be fairly placid, respectful and troll-free most of the time. The hard-core lefties and OldSpace partisans – many of whom, weirdly, are the same people – don’t seem to find this place very congenial. Perhaps that’s because this town actually has a sheriff who doesn’t tolerate saloon fights and gunplay.
I was referring to Bob (pilot error) Oler.