December 4, 2023 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- Boeing touts the 25th anniversary of the launch of its first ISS module, Unity
Ah, those were the days, when Boeing could actually build something that works.
- Today in 1965 a Titan rocket launched Frank Borman and Jim Lovell on the planned two-week long Gemini 7 mission
The mission proved humans could live in space long enough to go to and from the Moon. As the astronauts both explained to me, it was like being locked in a compact car for two weeks, the windows closed and the wheel tied down so that all you could do was go in circles.
- Russians were forced to dock a Progress manually on December 2nd because of problems with Kurs automatic system
The real questions are this: What exactly was the problem, and what is being done to fix it?
- Chinese pseudo-company CAS Space releases new images of its proposed family of rockets
As noted at the tweet, all look identical to various SpaceX rockets. Let me add that these designs are nothing more than engineering by powerpoint, and at this moment represent nothing but fantasies.
- Indian engineers have brought the Chandrayaan-3 propulsion module back into Earth orbit, from the Moon
This achievement is way cool. They used multiple gravity assists over two months to shift the module’s lunar orbit so that crossed back into the Earth’s sphere of influence and thus return back to Earth.
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 you can buy it directly from the author and get an autographed copy.
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.
- Boeing touts the 25th anniversary of the launch of its first ISS module, Unity
Ah, those were the days, when Boeing could actually build something that works.
- Today in 1965 a Titan rocket launched Frank Borman and Jim Lovell on the planned two-week long Gemini 7 mission
The mission proved humans could live in space long enough to go to and from the Moon. As the astronauts both explained to me, it was like being locked in a compact car for two weeks, the windows closed and the wheel tied down so that all you could do was go in circles.
- Russians were forced to dock a Progress manually on December 2nd because of problems with Kurs automatic system
The real questions are this: What exactly was the problem, and what is being done to fix it?
- Chinese pseudo-company CAS Space releases new images of its proposed family of rockets
As noted at the tweet, all look identical to various SpaceX rockets. Let me add that these designs are nothing more than engineering by powerpoint, and at this moment represent nothing but fantasies.
- Indian engineers have brought the Chandrayaan-3 propulsion module back into Earth orbit, from the Moon
This achievement is way cool. They used multiple gravity assists over two months to shift the module’s lunar orbit so that crossed back into the Earth’s sphere of influence and thus return back to Earth.
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 you can buy it directly from the author and get an autographed copy.
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
I remember reading somewhere that Russian cosmonauts get a bonus if they have to perform a manual docking. So the automatic system tends to “malfunction” regularly.
(Might be an urban legend, though…)
V-Man,
You are correct, I first read about that in “Dragonfly: NASA and the Crisis Aboard Mir” by Bryan Burrough. Yes on both the Soyuz spacecraft and the Progress as well. They switch over from KURS to the manual TORU system. I don’t know if they still give the docking bonus anymore. Good question.
India just looks more and more impressive
Dragonfly is a great read! It has the full gamet of Russian disasters, including (but not limited to) fire and collision in space. I highly recommend it!