December 29, 2023 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- India’s first launch in 2024 will take place while it is still 2023 in the western hemisphere
The launch is with India’s smaller PSLV rocket. I will assign this launch to 2024, which if successful will put India on top for a short while.
- During Falcon Heavy launch a two-second clip showed the X-37B being deployed
The video does not show much, as all we can see is one end of the spacecraft as it moves away, with one wing sticking up in the background. It does appear however that some experiments have been placed outside the cargo bay.
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Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- India’s first launch in 2024 will take place while it is still 2023 in the western hemisphere
The launch is with India’s smaller PSLV rocket. I will assign this launch to 2024, which if successful will put India on top for a short while.
- During Falcon Heavy launch a two-second clip showed the X-37B being deployed
The video does not show much, as all we can see is one end of the spacecraft as it moves away, with one wing sticking up in the background. It does appear however that some experiments have been placed outside the cargo bay.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either. IMPORTANT! If you donate enough to get a book, please email me separately to tell me which book you want and the address to mail it to.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID 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. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
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.
I wonder if SpaceX will get gigged for showing the payload on the Falcon Heavy launch, however briefly, in the live stream?
Unless this was Operational Deception play by US Space Force?
I’m sure the Space Force is not happy with that, there was not supposed to be any upper stage footage shown. HOW unhappy we may or may not ever find out.
Musk planning update.
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1740775393580245232?s=46
The war zone had links to this tweet (now “X”’s ??): and a Boeing YouTube
Falcon Heavy transits the moon – cool picture
https://twitter.com/johnkrausphotos/status/1740541251454460360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1740541251454460360%7Ctwgr%5Ec70b59ce3feaf44878827e20274a4e37e4f79eb7%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedrive.com%2Fthe-war-zone%2Fthis-appears-to-be-our-first-look-at-an-x-37b-in-space
YouTube showing some aft packaging on a prior flight at ~ 0:30. Not sure of the mission
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-rNiyhYO2A&t=34s