November 8, 2023 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- DHL touts its deal with Astrobotic to send more than 100,000 messages to the Moon
Anyone can send a picture, which will go digitally on Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander scheduled for launch late this year.
- Lynk satellite constellation starts cell phone to satellite service in Solomon Islands
Because Lynk only has three satellites in orbit, the service is presently limited to text and emergency messages.
- ESA shifts control of Vega-C rocket from Arianespace to the private Italian company Avio
The press release at the link summarizes all the actions taken by ESA at its just ended conference, all except this story had been covered here previously. Avio essentially builds Vega-C. It will now have full ownership and control. Arianespace — the government middle-man that never made a profit — is meanwhile slowly going away.
- Three companies tout their partnership to develop nuclear power propulsion for interplanetary travel
Lockheed Martin is the lead contractor for DARPA. The contract was awarded in July 2023.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
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Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- DHL touts its deal with Astrobotic to send more than 100,000 messages to the Moon
Anyone can send a picture, which will go digitally on Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander scheduled for launch late this year.
- Lynk satellite constellation starts cell phone to satellite service in Solomon Islands
Because Lynk only has three satellites in orbit, the service is presently limited to text and emergency messages.
- ESA shifts control of Vega-C rocket from Arianespace to the private Italian company Avio
The press release at the link summarizes all the actions taken by ESA at its just ended conference, all except this story had been covered here previously. Avio essentially builds Vega-C. It will now have full ownership and control. Arianespace — the government middle-man that never made a profit — is meanwhile slowly going away.
- Three companies tout their partnership to develop nuclear power propulsion for interplanetary travel
Lockheed Martin is the lead contractor for DARPA. The contract was awarded in July 2023.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Line from the nuclear power story:
This technology has the potential to ….
How many times have we heard that?
Oh, and any program with a cringeworthy backronym like JETSON immediately tells me it is just another PR stunt.
(I’ll take back these words if they can manage to get anything flying in the next 5 years)
‘backronym’
Haven’t heard that in a very long time, although at one point, it had some currency in the language. Thanks to Concerned for reviving an oldie-but-goodie.