December 3, 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.
- On this day in 1995 the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) was launched
Despite being designed to only last two years, and a number of failures of key equipment, engineers have kept it going now for three decades. Kudos to them!
- On this day in 1993, the first servicing mission for the Hubble Space Telescope was launched
The shuttle was Endeavour, and the mission saved the telescope. On spacewalks on five consecutive days they fixed its out-of-focus mirror, replaced its wobbly defective solar panels, replaced three gyroscopes that had failed, and fixed a number of other issues. The rest is history.
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.
- On this day in 1995 the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) was launched
Despite being designed to only last two years, and a number of failures of key equipment, engineers have kept it going now for three decades. Kudos to them!
- On this day in 1993, the first servicing mission for the Hubble Space Telescope was launched
The shuttle was Endeavour, and the mission saved the telescope. On spacewalks on five consecutive days they fixed its out-of-focus mirror, replaced its wobbly defective solar panels, replaced three gyroscopes that had failed, and fixed a number of other issues. The rest is history.
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


Hubble Space Telescope launched this day in history.
Say what you will about the overall Space Shuttle Program, and there is plenty to say, the Hubble repair and upgrade missions were glorious. The last upgrade mission had 5 straight days of space walk, upgrade work.
I remember watching with amazement. I probably still have VHS recordings of the live repair / upgrade broadcast.
And yes, we still have a functional VCR. It is not as old as the Voyagers, but it works.
Ronaldus Magnus: A minor unimportant correction: Hubble was launched on April 24, 1990, not on this day in 1993. The quick link refers to the launch of the first servicing mission.