July 6, 2026 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, as well as the first from Nate P. 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.
- Last Starlink launch also included two Besxar test semi-conductor manufacturing pods
The company wants to see if it microgravity semiconductor fabrication at orbital altitude is practical. If so it will start launching regularly on SpaceX Starlink launches.
- 60 years ago today, the Saturn 1B rocket was launched on its 2nd unmanned test flight
It carried no payload, as it was intended as a test of the behavior of the rocket’s liquid hydrogen fuel in orbit.
- In July 1998 Japan launched the Nozomi to Mars
The mission however was a failure when a malfunctioning valve released its fuel during an Earth fly-by designed to send it to Mars. Engineers attempted to improvise to save the mission, but after four years this failed also.
- Juno celebrates ten years in Jupiter orbit this week
It entered Jupiter’s orbit on July 4, 2016.
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 or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. 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
