November 28, 2023 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- Firefly completes first hot fire static fire test of its Miranda rocket engine
This engine will be used on the first stage Firefly is building for Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket to replace the Russian engines and Ukrainian first stage used previously.
- New Glenn first stage spotted outside factory at Cape Canaveral?
The tweet suggests this is the stage’s “the LNG/LOx tank section”. From the picture it is not clear to me if it has an engine yet. Regardless, it does appear that Blue Origin might finally getting close to launching a real rocket.
- Soyuz-2 carrying next Progress freighter rolls to launchpad
The launch is scheduled for December 1st.
- ESA touts completion of first round of testing of its first carbon-fiber rocket fuel tank, dubbed Phoebus
Note that SpaceX tried making carbon-fiber tanks almost a decade ago, and abandoned them for steel because of the time and expense of manufacturing them.
- Today in 1964 Mariner 4 was launched, the first spacecraft to fly past Mars and return images
Today is also the fifth anniversary of the landing of InSight on Mars.
The next three links are all from China, touting either concepts or the engine tests. Some will turn out real, some not.
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 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.
- Firefly completes first hot fire static fire test of its Miranda rocket engine
This engine will be used on the first stage Firefly is building for Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket to replace the Russian engines and Ukrainian first stage used previously.
- New Glenn first stage spotted outside factory at Cape Canaveral?
The tweet suggests this is the stage’s “the LNG/LOx tank section”. From the picture it is not clear to me if it has an engine yet. Regardless, it does appear that Blue Origin might finally getting close to launching a real rocket.
- Soyuz-2 carrying next Progress freighter rolls to launchpad
The launch is scheduled for December 1st.
- ESA touts completion of first round of testing of its first carbon-fiber rocket fuel tank, dubbed Phoebus
Note that SpaceX tried making carbon-fiber tanks almost a decade ago, and abandoned them for steel because of the time and expense of manufacturing them.
- Today in 1964 Mariner 4 was launched, the first spacecraft to fly past Mars and return images
Today is also the fifth anniversary of the landing of InSight on Mars.
The next three links are all from China, touting either concepts or the engine tests. Some will turn out real, some not.
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 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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