October 10, 2023 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- Sierra Space reiterates its commitment to Orbital Reef and its contracts with NASA
Based on the statement, which makes no mention of Blue Origin, this suggests that the rumors about a break-up between Sierra Space and Blue Origin on this project were really referring to Blue Origin getting kicked out, which will be especially embarrassing for Jeff Bezos as he and his company were the originators of the Orbital Reef space station concept.
- Mission team for UAE’s Al-Amal Mars orbiter get award at 2023 International Astronautical Congress
Well deserved, though in this day and age one can’t help wondering how much of this award was given for political reasons beyond the team’s actual achievement.
- A news source other than BtB notices China dropping any mention of Russia in its latest presentation about its lunar base
Jay and I both noted this change by China in the October 4, 2023 quick space links, one week ago. Nor was this a surprise, as from the beginning I predicted Russia would not contribute much of anything to this partnership, and China began leaving Russia out of its presentations as early as September 2022.
- China’s Hubble-class space telescope to enter “final prototype phase” in April 2024
This date suggests that the telescope is delayed, and will not launch next year as previously announced as recently as February 2023.
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.
- Sierra Space reiterates its commitment to Orbital Reef and its contracts with NASA
Based on the statement, which makes no mention of Blue Origin, this suggests that the rumors about a break-up between Sierra Space and Blue Origin on this project were really referring to Blue Origin getting kicked out, which will be especially embarrassing for Jeff Bezos as he and his company were the originators of the Orbital Reef space station concept.
- Mission team for UAE’s Al-Amal Mars orbiter get award at 2023 International Astronautical Congress
Well deserved, though in this day and age one can’t help wondering how much of this award was given for political reasons beyond the team’s actual achievement.
- A news source other than BtB notices China dropping any mention of Russia in its latest presentation about its lunar base
Jay and I both noted this change by China in the October 4, 2023 quick space links, one week ago. Nor was this a surprise, as from the beginning I predicted Russia would not contribute much of anything to this partnership, and China began leaving Russia out of its presentations as early as September 2022.
- China’s Hubble-class space telescope to enter “final prototype phase” in April 2024
This date suggests that the telescope is delayed, and will not launch next year as previously announced as recently as February 2023.
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
Perseverance records Phobos transit of the Sun.
https://x.com/nasamars/status/1711772383043060147?s=46
I want whatever station gets put up there to have a profile of a house with a steep roof and chimney…to make the transit more surreal.
Robert wrote: “Based on the statement, which makes no mention of Blue Origin, this suggests that the rumors about a break-up between Sierra Space and Blue Origin on this project were really referring to Blue Origin getting kicked out, which will be especially embarrassing for Jeff Bezos as he and his company were the originators of the Orbital Reef space station concept.”
To be fair, the statement also did not mention any of the other members of the team, which my list contains: Boeing, Redwire Space, Genesis Engineering Solutions, and Arizona State University in addition to Sierra Space and Blue Origin.
I am pondering the ability of Sierra Space to take the lead in this space station. They are already working on their cargo version of Dream Chaser, and their manned version cannot be far behind. With the ISS resupply contract, they should have the revenues needed to stay in business long enough to develop their manned Dream Chaser, and maybe they can also afford to lead the Orbital Reef space station. If not, then my next choice would be Boeing, based upon their long history, deep pockets, and previous leadership positions, but they have not been stellar performers, lately. If Dream Chaser performs well, then I may have confidence in Sierra Space’s ability to develop space hardware.
In the meantime, I am glad that there are still two other competitors for the Commercial Low Earth Orbit Destinations (CLD) contracts and at least one other space station company that is not participating in the CLD contracts. Vast’s Haven-1 space station has been mentioned, and I have heard of Gravitics’s Starmax space station in a couple of reports.
Reports are also coming out that NASA is looking at the possibility of turning a Starship into a space station, or maybe they are urging SpaceX to do it on their own or as a partnership with NASA. It isn’t quite clear to me, at this time.
Gary: That Perseverance footage is old, from 2022. Do a search here on BtB for “Perseverance” and “Phobos” and you see it.
Another Quick Link Candidate: The always interesting Stoke Space today has a new promotional video out. And it features . . . on orbit refueling and moon landings.
These guys are getting ambitious. Gotta get to orbit first, though!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcLuugmHV90&t=70s
Bob,
Thanks. I attempted that, but must have fat-fingered the search.