March 23, 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.
- New study says giant exoplanets spin fast while brown dwarf stars spin slow
The distinction, if confirmed, will help astronomers figure out which is which, since sometimes it has been hard to tell them apart.
- Summary of new Chinese papers describing its manned lunar mission
Specifically, the papers outline the Mengzhou command module’s abort plans if something goes wrong in lunar orbit, and the Lanyue lunar lander’s mission profile for landing on the Moon
- “If the astronomers don’t like Starlink satellites, they haven’t seen nothing yet”
There are a lot more much larger satellite constellations coming. Time for astronomy to get off the Earth and above this stuff.
- On this day in 2001 Russia’s Mir space station burned up over the Pacific, after 15 years in space
In interviewing many Russian astronauts in 2003 they were routinely appalled the Russia didn’t try to salvage some parts of it, if only for studying how its materials were impacted after so many years in space.
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
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.
- New study says giant exoplanets spin fast while brown dwarf stars spin slow
The distinction, if confirmed, will help astronomers figure out which is which, since sometimes it has been hard to tell them apart.
- Summary of new Chinese papers describing its manned lunar mission
Specifically, the papers outline the Mengzhou command module’s abort plans if something goes wrong in lunar orbit, and the Lanyue lunar lander’s mission profile for landing on the Moon
- “If the astronomers don’t like Starlink satellites, they haven’t seen nothing yet”
There are a lot more much larger satellite constellations coming. Time for astronomy to get off the Earth and above this stuff.
- On this day in 2001 Russia’s Mir space station burned up over the Pacific, after 15 years in space
In interviewing many Russian astronauts in 2003 they were routinely appalled the Russia didn’t try to salvage some parts of it, if only for studying how its materials were impacted after so many years in space.
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