May 12, 2025 Quick space linksCourtesy 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.
- Rocket Lab begins engine burns on its Pioneer service module for the return of Varda’s third orbiting commercial capsule
It will land in the Koonibba Test Range in South Australia.
- Vast touts the on-going testing of the primary structure for its Haven-1 space module
The launch is still targeting May 2026.
- Astronomers use Webb to study Jupiter’s aurora
As usual, the data didn’t match the predictions, and left them with more questions than answers.
- SpaceX does 60-second static fire test of Starshp prototype set to launch on 9th test flight
I’m seeing speculations that the targeted launch date is now May 20, 2025.
- Canadian company MDA Space contemplates finding a new customer for its robot arm should Lunar Gateway be cancelled
They have four American commercial stations plus India’s space station as potential customers.
- Russian space historian says there is a small chance that the Venera capsule that just came back to Earth might be floating in the Indian Ocean and could be picked up by a passing ship
The image at the link indicates that the capsule did come down near major shipping lanes.
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.
- Rocket Lab begins engine burns on its Pioneer service module for the return of Varda’s third orbiting commercial capsule
It will land in the Koonibba Test Range in South Australia.
- Vast touts the on-going testing of the primary structure for its Haven-1 space module
The launch is still targeting May 2026.
- Astronomers use Webb to study Jupiter’s aurora
As usual, the data didn’t match the predictions, and left them with more questions than answers.
- SpaceX does 60-second static fire test of Starshp prototype set to launch on 9th test flight
I’m seeing speculations that the targeted launch date is now May 20, 2025.
- Canadian company MDA Space contemplates finding a new customer for its robot arm should Lunar Gateway be cancelled
They have four American commercial stations plus India’s space station as potential customers.
- Russian space historian says there is a small chance that the Venera capsule that just came back to Earth might be floating in the Indian Ocean and could be picked up by a passing ship
The image at the link indicates that the capsule did come down near major shipping lanes.
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
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