August 5, 2026 Quick space links
Since BtBβs stringer Jay is unavailable due to work, there won’t be many links today, other than what I scrap up. I do invite my readers to send me suggestions however.
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 link below.
- Cracking the $21 million NASA Moon rock caper
Some fascinating criminal history from NASA’s inspector general.
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

https://x.com/davill/status/2085074404627915059?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Wanted to give an update on the hotfire anomaly investigation. Progress continues. The anomaly originated at the main oxygen valve on one of the BE-4 engines, which was later confirmed by hardware recovery and inspections. Extensive component-level and engine hotfire tests have been conducted to understand the failure mode better and inform mitigations. The path forward is clear. We’re making small modifications to the valve that can be quickly retrofitted to existing engines. Weβre manufacturing the updated hardware, which will be ready by the end of this month. In parallel, we’re working through the remaining fault tree analysis.
Just posted on the main page.
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2085183860489552115?s=20
It’s not real. From my new brain Grok that posted in the comments: Yes, it’s a CGI simulation of the Falcon 9 upper stage from the Jan 2025 Blue Ghost/ispace launch. It hit the Moon near Einstein Crater on Aug 5 at ~5,400 mph. Real impact confirmed by sodium/lithium plume data; no actual Earth video of the flash exists.
Apparently the plume was detected by the Lowell Observatory:
Plume detected
Particle motion in space
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-spacecraft-conceal-particles-earth-space.html
3D print news
https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-treatment-strength-ductility-3d-aluminum.html