January 29, 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.
- Sierra Space’s Tenacity Dream Chaser mini-shuttle passes payload intergration tests
Still no firm word on when it will launch.
- ESA awards Thales-Alenia contract to build Envision probe to Venus
The launch is not scheduled until “the 2030s” so don’t hold your breath, especially because European planetary probes routinely fall behind schedule, and having a decade to build it might not be enough.
- On this day in 1965 the crawler at the base of the mobile launcher at Kennedy did its first crawl
The short video at the link reviews the history and touts the success of the mobile launcher, ignoring the insane amount of money NASA has spent in the past decade (more than $2 billion) modifying and then building two new launchers, one of which will only be used twice, at most.
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.
- Sierra Space’s Tenacity Dream Chaser mini-shuttle passes payload intergration tests
Still no firm word on when it will launch.
- ESA awards Thales-Alenia contract to build Envision probe to Venus
The launch is not scheduled until “the 2030s” so don’t hold your breath, especially because European planetary probes routinely fall behind schedule, and having a decade to build it might not be enough.
- On this day in 1965 the crawler at the base of the mobile launcher at Kennedy did its first crawl
The short video at the link reviews the history and touts the success of the mobile launcher, ignoring the insane amount of money NASA has spent in the past decade (more than $2 billion) modifying and then building two new launchers, one of which will only be used twice, at most.
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
The edition of Payload this morning has two interesting stories of note:
1. Payload’s research department takes a crack at trying to estimate SpaceX’s revenues in 2024. They estimate SpaceX’s revenue reached $13.1B in 2024, up from $8.7B in 2023. Yes, it is a speculative exercise, and all the usual cautions apply; but it’s a worthwhile exercise in trying to evaluate SpaceX’s financial state.
2. Rep. Mike Haridopolos (R-FL) joins the growing list of elected officials urging NASA to relocate its HQ to Florida. Interesting revelation: NASA’s headquarters in DC is only about 8% occupied, according to Haridopolos. Sounds like something for the administration to look into!
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