January 30, 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.
- Thales Alenia gets $900 million ESA contract to build descent module for Argonaut lunar lander
As always, Europe is slow and far behind. It is scheduled for launch in the “2030s” (if then), by which time private companies in the U.S. and Japan will flying numerous such landers and return spacecraft for a fraction of this cost. And that doesn’t include the landers that China and India will be flying by then as well.
- China releases images of satellites it normally keeps under wraps
One was a technology test satellite, and the second was a five-satellite batch as part of one of its mega-internet satellite constellations.
- On this day in 1964, Ranger 6 was launched
It was the sixth attempt to take many photos the Moon as the spacecraft approached and then crashed on the surface. It was also the sixth straight failure. It wasn’t until the last Ranger mission six months later, Ranger-7, that success was finally achieved, sending back more than 4,000 pictures.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either. IMPORTANT! If you donate enough to get a book, please email me separately to tell me which book you want and the address to mail it to.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. 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. 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.
- Thales Alenia gets $900 million ESA contract to build descent module for Argonaut lunar lander
As always, Europe is slow and far behind. It is scheduled for launch in the “2030s” (if then), by which time private companies in the U.S. and Japan will flying numerous such landers and return spacecraft for a fraction of this cost. And that doesn’t include the landers that China and India will be flying by then as well.
- China releases images of satellites it normally keeps under wraps
One was a technology test satellite, and the second was a five-satellite batch as part of one of its mega-internet satellite constellations.
- On this day in 1964, Ranger 6 was launched
It was the sixth attempt to take many photos the Moon as the spacecraft approached and then crashed on the surface. It was also the sixth straight failure. It wasn’t until the last Ranger mission six months later, Ranger-7, that success was finally achieved, sending back more than 4,000 pictures.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either. IMPORTANT! If you donate enough to get a book, please email me separately to tell me which book you want and the address to mail it to.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. 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.
Destination Moon
NASA Ranger Program Documentary
https://youtu.be/Fq6g6SwhbFg
58:58
Thank you Wayne for the link. These early documentaries shed light on the history of the program.
jay@n7zuf.com
Hey, you are a Radio-Guy! Very cool!
Glad you liked the Link.
There is quite a bit of NASA public-relations & techie Films from the 1960’s, covering a wide range of material.
NASA and MIT produced a syndicated TV show, “Science Reporter” Hosted by John Fitch,
an example:
NASA Science Reporter
John Fitch: Wallops Island Launch Facility
https://youtu.be/hH9nHScWHmQ
29:08