October 4, 2023 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- B2Space touts its proposed balloon-based launch system in a short video
The concept of a “rockoon” is an old one, never implemented for orbital launches despite its potential.
- Amazon outlines the goals of its first two prototype Kuiper satellites
Now scheduled for launch on October 6th on an Atlas-5 rocket. Live stream here.
- China’s outlines rough development plan for its lunar base
Unlike a previous presentation, this presentation made no mention of Russia, China’s supposed partner in this project. No surprise, since no one ever expected Russia to contribute much anyway.
- China presents a global map of those international partners participating in its space station
The map overstates the level of cooperation from these other nations, since in many cases it is not the government but a few individual scientists participating. Moreover, Alaska is not part of Canada, as the map suggests.
- Russia releases final Luna-25 failure report
I hadn’t linked to this previously because it adds nothing significant from the earlier reports.
- Russia once again invites Brazil, Turkey, and South Africa to participate in its own unlaunched space station
Any announcement to partner with Russia is merely going to be for the photo op, as it is highly unlikely any independent Russian station will fly anytime in the near or even far future.
- A reminder that today is the anniversary of the launch of Sputnik in 1957
Thus, the space age began.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either. IMPORTANT! If you donate enough to get a book, please email me separately to tell me which book you want and the address to mail it to.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. 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.
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- B2Space touts its proposed balloon-based launch system in a short video
The concept of a “rockoon” is an old one, never implemented for orbital launches despite its potential.
- Amazon outlines the goals of its first two prototype Kuiper satellites
Now scheduled for launch on October 6th on an Atlas-5 rocket. Live stream here.
- China’s outlines rough development plan for its lunar base
Unlike a previous presentation, this presentation made no mention of Russia, China’s supposed partner in this project. No surprise, since no one ever expected Russia to contribute much anyway.
- China presents a global map of those international partners participating in its space station
The map overstates the level of cooperation from these other nations, since in many cases it is not the government but a few individual scientists participating. Moreover, Alaska is not part of Canada, as the map suggests.
- Russia releases final Luna-25 failure report
I hadn’t linked to this previously because it adds nothing significant from the earlier reports.
- Russia once again invites Brazil, Turkey, and South Africa to participate in its own unlaunched space station
Any announcement to partner with Russia is merely going to be for the photo op, as it is highly unlikely any independent Russian station will fly anytime in the near or even far future.
- A reminder that today is the anniversary of the launch of Sputnik in 1957
Thus, the space age began.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either. IMPORTANT! If you donate enough to get a book, please email me separately to tell me which book you want and the address to mail it to.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. 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.
Launching a launch vehicle using a balloon just to save some delta-v is already a bad idea for many practical reasons, and it doesn’t take Elon Musk to come to this conclusion. For example, this creates a lot of problems if the launch preparations for the rocket have to be canceled after the balloon has been launched and the balloon therefore has to land again with the rocket still attached to it, which is hardly possible in practice. The alternative of letting the launch vehicle float to the earth’s surface on a parachute instead is not really convincing either.