June 19, 2026 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.
- On ISS, upcoming tasks include repairs to Canadarm2, which is currently dormant due to arm joint issues
Neither I nor Jay were aware the robot arm was out of commission.
- NASA touts the arrival at the Kennedy Space Center of the first of four core stage engines for the Artemis-3’s SLS rocket
Clearly Isaacman is pushing to accelerate the launch cadence of SLS, though whether he can shorten it to his goal of six months remains extremely doubtful.
- Blue Origin touts the installation of its first “Quartz” ground station in Bermuda
I assume this is for communications with its rockets and orbiting spacecraft.
- NASA touts desert testing of JPL-built Mars rover prototypes
Considering that NASA is transitioning to hiring private companies to build its rovers, I wonder why the agency is still spending money on these government-built prototypes.
- On June 19, 1963 the duel Vostok 5 (carrying Valery Bykovsky) and Vostok 6 (carrying Valentina Tereshkova) missions returned to Earth
Though sold as a rendezvous mission by the Soviets, the two spacecraft merely had complementary orbits that brought them within a few miles of each other. Neither did any orbital maneuvers during their several day-long flights.
- On June 19, 2002 Steve Fossett began his successful flight around the world alone, nonstop, in a balloon
He launched the 10-story high balloon Spirit of Freedom from western Australia, returning to Queensland on 3 July.
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