February 18, 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.
- Stoke Space touts completion of launchpad at Cape Canaveral
The work also included installation of the oxygen, fuel & water farms and the horizontal integration facility for preparing the rocket and its payloads. Still no announced launch date, but the company is obviously getting close.
- Spanish rocket startup PLD gets another launch contract
The deal is to launch for Sateliot two internet-of-things satellites in ’27. This is PLD’s second launch contract, the first from the European orbital tug company D-Orbit in 2025. The company hopes to do its first launch in ’26.
- On this date in 1965, the Ranger 8 spacecraft was launched on a mission to the Moon
It took more than 7,000 high-resolution images before impacting the lunar surface.
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.
- Stoke Space touts completion of launchpad at Cape Canaveral
The work also included installation of the oxygen, fuel & water farms and the horizontal integration facility for preparing the rocket and its payloads. Still no announced launch date, but the company is obviously getting close.
- Spanish rocket startup PLD gets another launch contract
The deal is to launch for Sateliot two internet-of-things satellites in ’27. This is PLD’s second launch contract, the first from the European orbital tug company D-Orbit in 2025. The company hopes to do its first launch in ’26.
- On this date in 1965, the Ranger 8 spacecraft was launched on a mission to the Moon
It took more than 7,000 high-resolution images before impacting the lunar surface.
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
Interesting story from Indian media: NASA and ISRO are talking about an uncrewed docking of Gaganyaan to ISS.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ISRO/comments/1r92o28/india_us_moot_gaganyaan_uncrewed_docking_with_iss/
The link contains a screen shot of the print page. Eric Berger has picked up on it; seems legit?
India wants to have relations with east and west. Let them keep ISS
In the news
Compressor-less hydrogen turbine runs 303 seconds, beating NASA’s 250-second record
“Earlier this year, the researchers succeeded for the first time in generating electricity with a hydrogen gas turbine without a mechanical compressor. While previous tests lasted only fractions of a second—otherwise the combustion chambers would melt—the KIT team has now extended the runtime to more than five minutes. “This is an important step toward highly efficient and flexible hydrogen energy for a fossil-free energy system,” explains Professor Daniel Banuti, Director of the Institute of Thermal Energy Technology and Safety (ITES).”
I can see this being helpful with some of Elon’s projects
Safer railroads through ultrasound: Beamforming algorithms can improve track safety inspections
“Partnering with industry and government railroad organizations, structural engineers at UC San Diego applied an innovative form of ultrasound with new beamforming algorithms to create a device that can be embedded in the wheel of a cart—and one day, potentially a train itself—to inspect each and every mile of rail for defects and internal cracks not visible to the naked eye. These internal fractures and fissures, if not detected or monitored, can break under the weight of a train, with the potential for service disruption and loss of productivity.”
Lastly:
“Offshore wind farms change ocean current patterns, simulations show”
“By 2050, offshore wind power capacity in the North Sea is set to increase more than tenfold. Researchers at the Helmholtz Center Hereon have analyzed the long-term overall impact of this large number of wind farms on the hydrodynamics of the North Sea for the first time. They found that the current pattern could change on a large scale. The study highlights approaches for minimizing potential risks to the environment at an early stage. The work was recently published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment.”
INCOMING: NASA, or more specifically Jared Isaacman, has just released an official statement on the status of Boeing’s Starliner, and the investigation into its failures, and it’s a little tough on Boeing (though not as tough as I would be).
https://x.com/i/status/2024558806135689354
Boeing has a brief statement in response, which Jeff Foust has posted:
https://x.com/i/status/2024577823470407718
Still looking for something on NASA’S websites….
Ok, there is something now on their News page:
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-releases-report-on-starliner-crewed-flight-test-investigation/
Richard M: I am posting now.
Great!