September 17, 2024 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.
- Space Perspective completes first test flight of its Neptune balloon capsule
This test flight proved out the capsule’s engineering, and will eventually be followed by tourist balloon flights to about 20 miles altitude.
- Using Hubble, astronomers identify more supermassive black holes in the early universe that previously reported
The result comes from repeated observations of the very distant galaxies in the Hubble Ultra-Deep field, and spotting the changes.
- First paper published outlining preliminary data obtained from Chang’e-6 lunar samples from the far side of the Moon
You can read the paper here [pdf].
- On this day in 1976 the cast of the original Star Trek welcomed the roll-out of the shuttle engineering test vehicle Enterprise, named by popular demand after the spacehip in the TV series.
Enterprise never flew in space, but was used to test the shuttle’s design for gliding unpowered to a runway landing.
- On this day in 1996 the shuttle Atlantis lifted off for the fourth shuttle mission to dock with Russia’s Mir space station
The shuttle brought Shannon Lucid back from space, completing her then 188-day mission that was then a record for an American and a woman.
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.
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.
- Space Perspective completes first test flight of its Neptune balloon capsule
This test flight proved out the capsule’s engineering, and will eventually be followed by tourist balloon flights to about 20 miles altitude.
- Using Hubble, astronomers identify more supermassive black holes in the early universe that previously reported
The result comes from repeated observations of the very distant galaxies in the Hubble Ultra-Deep field, and spotting the changes.
- First paper published outlining preliminary data obtained from Chang’e-6 lunar samples from the far side of the Moon
You can read the paper here [pdf].
- On this day in 1976 the cast of the original Star Trek welcomed the roll-out of the shuttle engineering test vehicle Enterprise, named by popular demand after the spacehip in the TV series.
Enterprise never flew in space, but was used to test the shuttle’s design for gliding unpowered to a runway landing.
- On this day in 1996 the shuttle Atlantis lifted off for the fourth shuttle mission to dock with Russia’s Mir space station
The shuttle brought Shannon Lucid back from space, completing her then 188-day mission that was then a record for an American and a woman.
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.
Mike Griffin was on RL’s board?!? Wow. They’ll probably go faster now. :)
He encouraged Musk to build his own rockets
Errata. “Starhip in the TV series”
MERIK: He commands not just a spaceship, Proconsul, but a starship. A very special vessel and crew. I tried for such a command.
ST:TOG “Bread and Circuses” Desilu 1968