February 6, 2025 Quick space linksCourtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, who’s real work has made it difficult to send links this week. I thank him for persevering anyway.
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.
- Sierra Space shares innovation award with Japanese partners for research studying if Dream Chasers can launch and land at Japanese airport
Sounds interesting, but Dream Chaser needs a rocket to launch, and the airport, Oita airport, has no such capability. Nor does the press release mention what rocket company would do the launches.
- Geost sues Sierra Space for breach of contract
The suit claims Sierra used Geost to get a satellite contract from the military, then broke the deal to replace it once the contract was won. It wants more than $17 million to recover its costs, plus punitive damages.
- NASASpaceflight.com releases a video touting what it expects to be a big 2025 at the Kennedy Space Center
Nothing really new.
- On this day in 1971 Alan Shepard of Apollo 14 took his first steps on the Moon
Shepard was the only Mercury astronaut to get to the Moon.
- On this day in 1995 the space shuttle completed the first shuttle docking to the Russian space station Mir
The picture at the link is of Mir with cosmonaut Valery Polyakov watching from a window. At that time Polyakov was more than a year into his 14.5 month stay on Mir, which still stands as the longest continuous mission yet for any human being.
- On this day in 2018 Falcon Heavy successfully completed its first launch, placing a Tesla in solar orbit
The most spectacular part of the launch was the simultaneous landing of both side boosters back at Kennedy.
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, who’s real work has made it difficult to send links this week. I thank him for persevering anyway.
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.
- Sierra Space shares innovation award with Japanese partners for research studying if Dream Chasers can launch and land at Japanese airport
Sounds interesting, but Dream Chaser needs a rocket to launch, and the airport, Oita airport, has no such capability. Nor does the press release mention what rocket company would do the launches.
- Geost sues Sierra Space for breach of contract
The suit claims Sierra used Geost to get a satellite contract from the military, then broke the deal to replace it once the contract was won. It wants more than $17 million to recover its costs, plus punitive damages.
- NASASpaceflight.com releases a video touting what it expects to be a big 2025 at the Kennedy Space Center
Nothing really new.
- On this day in 1971 Alan Shepard of Apollo 14 took his first steps on the Moon
Shepard was the only Mercury astronaut to get to the Moon.
- On this day in 1995 the space shuttle completed the first shuttle docking to the Russian space station Mir
The picture at the link is of Mir with cosmonaut Valery Polyakov watching from a window. At that time Polyakov was more than a year into his 14.5 month stay on Mir, which still stands as the longest continuous mission yet for any human being.
- On this day in 2018 Falcon Heavy successfully completed its first launch, placing a Tesla in solar orbit
The most spectacular part of the launch was the simultaneous landing of both side boosters back at Kennedy.
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
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1887383992955248859
STS-63 did rendezvous with the Mir space station, but did not dock with it. The first docking occurred during STS-71 on June 29th, ‘95. I was lucky to be able to visually observe the Shuttle and Mir during both missions. STS-63 from Springfield, Ohio and STS-71 from Bakersfield, California.
Re: Alan Shepard. Besides the only Mercury astronaut to walk on the Moon, Shepard is the first and only human to have ever golfed on another celestial body. Thanks to Capitalism In Space, maybe one of the many rovers under development could track it down. Do not alter its placement, just record for posterity how the ball lies in the Lunar rough.
I have been hearing about sovereign wealth funds—anything to it?
https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2025/02/us-sovereign-wealth-fund.html