February 19, 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.
- Short video by Rocket Lab touting the advantages of owning its own launch facility in New Zealand
The most important point is that it is the first privately owned and operated launch facility in the history of orbital rocketry.
- Image of likely Falcon 9 upper stage pressure vessel that crashed in Poland
It appears it is from a launch on February 1, 2025, in which this video shows the upper stage re-entering the atmosphere over Europe this morning.
- China’s Wenchang new launchpad has begun building its methane tank farm, with plans to finish by September
That date lines up well with the first launch of China’s Long March 12A, which will likely launch from this site.
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.
- Short video by Rocket Lab touting the advantages of owning its own launch facility in New Zealand
The most important point is that it is the first privately owned and operated launch facility in the history of orbital rocketry.
- Image of likely Falcon 9 upper stage pressure vessel that crashed in Poland
It appears it is from a launch on February 1, 2025, in which this video shows the upper stage re-entering the atmosphere over Europe this morning.
- China’s Wenchang new launchpad has begun building its methane tank farm, with plans to finish by September
That date lines up well with the first launch of China’s Long March 12A, which will likely launch from this site.
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
Best for Bob to hold and wait until all this is official, but I think it is worth noting: It appears that Associate Administrator Jim Free – until a few weeks ago, the head honcho of Artemis – is leaving NASA this week.
The report comes from Joey Roulette of Reuters: “NASA’s associate administrator Jim Free, a key figure who has defended the agency’s moon program, is leaving NASA on Saturday, per two people familiar with his plans.”
Eric Berger replies: “Have heard this as well, but nice to have confirmation. Free was brought in to NASA to protect the old guard, and did so.”
Link: https://x.com/SciGuySpace/status/1892322679845179778
But there’s more. From Roulette’s story up tonight on Reuters:
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/key-nasa-officials-departure-casts-more-uncertainty-over-us-moon-program-2025-02-19/
House cleaning appears to be underway at NASA, and so far, it seems to be at least *nominally* voluntary.
P.S. Dave Huntsman, a familiar name to many people here, was having none of Roulette’s framing:
https://x.com/davehuntsman/status/1892333123284709546
Hard to disagree with any of that.
Excellent news if true. When rats leave a sinking ship it’s generally the most senior rats who depart first. I view this in the same light as the reported large uptick in self-deportations by illegal immigrants – jumping when it’s apparent the jig is up instead of waiting to be pushed. Not that Jared won’t still have a fair amount of clean-up to do when he arrives, but every old-school sow’s ear who jumps into the dustbin on his or her own first is one less to deal with before getting down to the real work of restoring NASA’s former silk purse status.
As far as “privately owned launch facilities” go, does Boca Chica not count?
Stan Witherspoon: Of course Boca Chica counts, but it achieved its first launch after Rocket Lab. Rocket Lab’s spaceport in New Zealand was first.
Hello Dick,
Can’t disagree with any of that (of course).
As has been observed by better people than me, the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate’s major challenge has been getting multiple systems developed (shorthand for designed, built, tested, and integrated). Jim Free was a bad match for that challenge as the only prior systems-level development experience that he had was with Orion, which should be an MIT case study in how not to do systems development. The same is true of Cathy Koerner — her only major systems-level development experience was with Orion. Clearly, however, Bill Nelson felt more comfortable putting Artemis in the hands of Old Guard veterans like these than he did with Kathy Lueders.
I have no idea what Koerner’s fate is, but it seems likely she will be moving on before long, too.
Speaking of Free, by the way, we shouldn’t forget that he was quite willing, over and over again, to try to shift blame for Artemis schedule delays on to SpaceX, at least at moments when it wasn’t completely untenable. Someone over at the NSF forums just pointed out that back in June 2023, he was quoted in a Jeff Foust story throwing shade at SpaceX after the Flight 1 test.
He hasn’t been able to do that so readily lately, for obvious reasons.
It’s not hard to feel the suspicion that had it been up to Jim Free, SpaceX would never have been given the HLS contract.
Elon gave us another earthquake today:
https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/02/elon-musk-recommends-that-the-international-space-station-be-deorbited-asap/
Eric Berger (who penned the article here) prodded Elon to ask him just when he had in mind. Elon replied, “The decision is up to the President, but my recommendation is as soon as possible. I recommend 2 years from now,” Musk replied.”
As Berger notes, Ted Cruz is having kittens over this already. (Cruz is chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, so that kinda matters.) Congressional leadership has *always* gone to the mat to protect ISS every time it is even hinted that NASA might deorbit it early. Trump has great leverage over the GOP caucus in both houses, but I can’t help but think that this is a bridge too far even for Elon.
That said, it could be that Elon ends up shaking some other tree loose by doing this. Maybe this ends up being a negotiating ploy to kill SLS and Orion faster? (“OK, you guys agree to let us nuke these white elephants tomorrow, and we’ll agree to keep ISS up until 2030. And we’ll throw in Space Command and Ames at Huntsville as a cherry topper.”) Stay tuned.
Elon found a way to completely melt down Space Twitter, er, Space X, twice in one day. Holy moley.
Well…go read it all yourself.
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1892584783064052114
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1892617681796264436
Would love to see full documentation on just exactly what SpaceX offered, and what NASA officials discussed in response.
”The most important point is that it is the first privately owned and operated launch facility in the history of orbital rocketry.”
No, it isn’t.
”Of course Boca Chica counts, but it achieved its first launch after Rocket Lab. Rocket Lab’s spaceport in New Zealand was first.”
Nope. Boeing’s Sea Launch beat them both by decades.
Interesting point.
What if we qualified it as “the first privately owned and operated *land-based* launch facility in the history of orbital rocketry”?
If I was being snarky, I might say that it was the first privately owned and operated launch facility to be free of violations of the Arms Export Control Act…
mkent: I forgot about Sea Launch. But then it wasn’t entirely private, as the Russian government was a major owner.
It also moved. :) I think Richard M is right that “land-based” is important.