August 28, 2025 Quick space linksCourtesy 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.
- NASA seeks volunteers to passively track the first manned Orion mission around the Moon, presently scheduled for April 2026
It appears NASA wishes to find out if commercial communications systems can do the same as its government network of antennas.
- French startup The Exploration Company’s Nyx cargo capsule passes initial ISS safety review
The company is targeting its first cargo flight to ISS in 2028. Its longer range goal is to provide cargo and eventually manned service to the commercial stations that will follow. A successful docking in 2028 will strengthen its competitive position.
- German rocket startup Isar Aerospace secures launch agreements with European Space Agency
The deal is for two smallsat launches beginning in 2026, and will depend on Isar first achieving a successful launch, having failed in its first attempt in March 2025.
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.
- NASA seeks volunteers to passively track the first manned Orion mission around the Moon, presently scheduled for April 2026
It appears NASA wishes to find out if commercial communications systems can do the same as its government network of antennas.
- French startup The Exploration Company’s Nyx cargo capsule passes initial ISS safety review
The company is targeting its first cargo flight to ISS in 2028. Its longer range goal is to provide cargo and eventually manned service to the commercial stations that will follow. A successful docking in 2028 will strengthen its competitive position.
- German rocket startup Isar Aerospace secures launch agreements with European Space Agency
The deal is for two smallsat launches beginning in 2026, and will depend on Isar first achieving a successful launch, having failed in its first attempt in March 2025.
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
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