October 9, 2025 Quick space links
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.
- Vast touts the construction of the flight hull for its Haven-1 demo space station, set to launch next year
It is the first American-made station flight module built in 20 years.
- Space.com posts a short video showing Blue Origin’s next New Glenn rocket as it is moved to the launch pad
Space.com also calls this “New Shepard” in the video, a gross error.
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.
- Vast touts the construction of the flight hull for its Haven-1 demo space station, set to launch next year
It is the first American-made station flight module built in 20 years.
- Space.com posts a short video showing Blue Origin’s next New Glenn rocket as it is moved to the launch pad
Space.com also calls this “New Shepard” in the video, a gross error.
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
Solar tech
https://phys.org/news/2025-10-technology-deploy-stabilized-solar-arrays.html
“Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has developed technology to stiffen deployable structures on spacecraft, enabling autonomous spacecraft docking operations. SwRI is currently integrating the Parallelogram Synchronized Truss Assembly (PaSTA) technology with solar arrays on the Astroscale U.S. Refueler spacecraft. The team is also designing two different deployable booms using PaSTA technology for another spacecraft SwRI is developing.”
“The Astroscale U.S. Refueler, a 300-kilogram spacecraft, will be the first to conduct hydrazine refueling operations above geostationary orbit for the United States Space Force (USSF) and will be the first-ever on-orbit refueling mission supporting a U.S. Department of War asset.”
Glue
https://phys.org/news/2025-10-reuse-adhesive-based-key-chemistry.html
“If you have ever felt the frustration of trying to re-stick a used sticky note, you will understand the challenge of reversible adhesion. Adhesives that can strongly bond to surfaces, be peeled off, and then reused are in high demand for industrial applications.
Unfortunately, the strong bonds formed by conventional adhesives are permanent, such that these adhesives cannot be reused. But now, in a study published in Advanced Materials, researchers at The University of Osaka report the invention of a new polymeric adhesive that can be reused repeatedly.”
Space.com used to be pretty good in olden times, but it slowly morphed into a dumbed-down, ad-filled mess.