February 20, 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.
- India decides to forego a heavy lift rocket for its manned Moon missions
Essentially they are going to use their own variation of the concept developed in NASA in the 1960s for getting to the Moon that used the Gemini capsules and smaller rockets, assembling the lunar mission in Earth orbit.
- India’s Mars lander/rover/helicopter mission gets preliminary government approval
It still needs approval by the government’s Union Cabinet. The mission is targeting a launch in the 2031 window.
- Rocket Lab touts a video showing all sixty of its launches in 60 seconds
I am pretty certain it does not include the company’s relatively few launch failures, which were simply par for the course in building new rockets.
- Another Chinese pseudo-company, Space Epoch (Jianyuan) touts the upcoming hop test of the first stage of its Yuanxingzhe-1 rocket
It appears the flight will attempt a soft splashdown in the ocean. According to Jay, “Looking at the numbers, it is less than a Falcon-9 rocket.”
- China’s first asteroid sample return mission is being readied for launch this spring
The article provides a nice summary of the planned mission.
- Intuitive Machines next lunar lander, Athena, is now installed in its Falcon 9 rocket for launch
Launch is targeting February 26, 2025.
- On this day in 1962 John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth
He completed three orbits in a five hour flight.
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. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
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.
- India decides to forego a heavy lift rocket for its manned Moon missions
Essentially they are going to use their own variation of the concept developed in NASA in the 1960s for getting to the Moon that used the Gemini capsules and smaller rockets, assembling the lunar mission in Earth orbit.
- India’s Mars lander/rover/helicopter mission gets preliminary government approval
It still needs approval by the government’s Union Cabinet. The mission is targeting a launch in the 2031 window.
- Rocket Lab touts a video showing all sixty of its launches in 60 seconds
I am pretty certain it does not include the company’s relatively few launch failures, which were simply par for the course in building new rockets.
- Another Chinese pseudo-company, Space Epoch (Jianyuan) touts the upcoming hop test of the first stage of its Yuanxingzhe-1 rocket
It appears the flight will attempt a soft splashdown in the ocean. According to Jay, “Looking at the numbers, it is less than a Falcon-9 rocket.”
- China’s first asteroid sample return mission is being readied for launch this spring
The article provides a nice summary of the planned mission.
- Intuitive Machines next lunar lander, Athena, is now installed in its Falcon 9 rocket for launch
Launch is targeting February 26, 2025.
- On this day in 1962 John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth
He completed three orbits in a five hour flight.
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. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. 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
And should India end up needing a large booster or two, they know where they can rent one at a very competitive price.
Harkening back to the discussions of the 1950s, it will be interesting to observe how this alternative approach to going to the moon actually works out. If successful, it should offer an economical model for other countries.