February 13, 2026 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.
- The splashed down Long March 10A test stage has been recovered
More pictures here. Considering its journey it looks pretty good to me, though Jay thinks it’s “a little banged up.”
- SpaceX removes the crew access jetway at Kennedy launchpad LC 39A
The pad is being rebuilt for Falcon Heavy and Starship/Superheavy, so no more Falcon 9 manned launches from here.
- Italy’s private high speed train company Italo signs agreement with Starlink
It will charge passengers nothing for this Wi-Fi access.
- On this day in 2001 the NEAR-Shoemaker probe became the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid
It had spent about a year flying in formation with Eros. The landing was improvised, as the spacecraft had not been designed to do that.
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.
- The splashed down Long March 10A test stage has been recovered
More pictures here. Considering its journey it looks pretty good to me, though Jay thinks it’s “a little banged up.”
- SpaceX removes the crew access jetway at Kennedy launchpad LC 39A
The pad is being rebuilt for Falcon Heavy and Starship/Superheavy, so no more Falcon 9 manned launches from here.
- Italy’s private high speed train company Italo signs agreement with Starlink
It will charge passengers nothing for this Wi-Fi access.
- On this day in 2001 the NEAR-Shoemaker probe became the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid
It had spent about a year flying in formation with Eros. The landing was improvised, as the spacecraft had not been designed to do that.
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/sciguyspace/status/2021927029869097468?s=46
More nozzle issues for ULA