February 6, 2025 Quick space links
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.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
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.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
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