March 3, 2026 Quick space links
As BtB’s stringer Jay is on vacation, here are a few links I spotted that don’t deserve full posts. 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.
- ESA develops carbon-fiber material that can self-heal
As with too many European research projects, this one is not tied to any profit-making operation, and has a somewhat leisurely schedule.
- Blue Origin buys 20 acres near Cape Canaveral for $11.5 million
It appears the company wants to accelerate its launch operation in Florida, an excellent development.
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
As BtB’s stringer Jay is on vacation, here are a few links I spotted that don’t deserve full posts. 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.
- ESA develops carbon-fiber material that can self-heal
As with too many European research projects, this one is not tied to any profit-making operation, and has a somewhat leisurely schedule.
- Blue Origin buys 20 acres near Cape Canaveral for $11.5 million
It appears the company wants to accelerate its launch operation in Florida, an excellent development.
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
An update from NASA on the Artemis II SLS stack: “…a seal in the quick disconnect, through which helium flows from the ground systems to the rocket, was obstructing the pathway” was the culprit behind the WDR failure.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/03/03/nasa-repairs-upper-stage-helium-flow-preps-continue-ahead-of-rollout/
So it seems the problem was in the ground systems, not the upper stage. ULA is off the hook on this one.
Richard M,
I interpret that as being the quick disconnect assembly on the rocket, but it sounds like it is at the stage adaptor rather than the Centaur stage itself.
Richard M,
I’m not so sure about that. There are two sides to a quick-disconnect, one on the vehicle and one on the ground support equipment. The wording of the NASA press release seems to finger the part on the vehicle as the culprit.
In any case, there still remain a formidable number of battery swap-outs and recharges to do and even a troublesome oxygen seal to deal with. So, anent cryo and ullage gas seals, this vehicle has now completed the hat trick of elements, having had problems with hydrogen, helium and oxygen seals. This vehicle has more obstreperous seals than Sea World.
Gentlemen, your points aren’t wrong; but I think we must agree that the NASA statement is far too vague to be certain. I concede that I was rolling with what seemed to be the consensus interpretation of this on NSF and social media. (I suspect Edward may be right.)
(Either way, the the ICPS still has to rank low on the scale of objections to SLS.)
On the other hand, we DO have some good news from yesterday: Ding Dong, the Mobile Launcher 2 Is Dead.
“[…] the agency is no longer planning to use the Exploration Upper Stage or Mobile Launcher 2, as development of both has faced delays.”
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/esdmd/nasa-strengthens-artemis-adds-mission-refines-overall-architecture/
Room for criticism of Jared Isaacman remains, but credit where credit is due: He is the slayer of Exploration Upper Stage and Mobile Launcher 2.
By the way, someone took a photo of the Mobile Launcher 2 a few days ago, in case anyone was curious what this gold plated Bechtel homunculus looks like in its current state of glacial construction:
https://x.com/i/status/2028968961656734171
There has been an improvement on 3D printing for aerospace:
https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-ai-3d-pressureresistant-materials-aerospace.html
AI for engineering
https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-chatgpt-spreadsheets-difficult-faster.html
Blue Origin is going to destroy the environment we need a few years of study to investigate this before we take them to court over it.
Oh wait did I get ahead of the industry hating dope smoking hippies?
On steel
“A University of Houston engineer has developed a method to detect possible damage in concealed cold-formed steel construction framing materials hidden behind walls, without having to tear the walls open…Hoskere published his new method in the Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering. It includes development of his new AI tool called InternImage.
Also…”Hubo Cai and Yuxi Zhang are improving upon traditional ground-penetrating radar (GPR) data to better estimate the location, orientation and radius of underground utility pipes. Cai is a professor and the associate head of Purdue’s Lyles School of Civil and Construction Engineering and Zhang is a doctoral candidate in civil engineering. Cai and Zhang’s research has been published in Advanced Engineering Informatics.”
Maybe useful to locate iron meteorites?