Journal of Materials Science & Technology
Vol. 242
See pages 213-225 of the upcoming issue to be dated 20 January 2026

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmst.2025.04.017

So SpaceX alums are 20% of the new NASA astronaut class. Terrific. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if, by the mid-2030s, these alums are drawing SpaceX paychecks again along with several more of this new astronaut class. By that time there should be appreciably more SpaceXers than NASA staffers in space on any given day. Human bodies will follow spacecraft and total mass as a category of launchables that SpaceX dominates.

Davenport was on the Off-Nominal Discord podcast last week. The “McDocker” story was part of the show. Am definitely going to buy his book. Writing style is very “Berger-esque.”

Turns out that there are TWO SpaceXers in this new astronaut class: Yuri Kubo, who has worked at SpaceX for 12 years, was also selected.

Oh, I wasn’t even sure it deserved a Behind the Black post of its own. But the book looks like it might be worth a purchase now, and worth flagging for other combox regulars if nothing else.

Also, the New York Times review of it last week was critical of it for all the predictable reasons (“billionaires suck”), which makes me want to go get it even more.

Richard M: I did not cover this, so thanks for posting it. To me it wasn’t really newsworthy, as it simply demonstrates again what has been clear about SpaceX and Musk for more than a decade.

Still, it is good to document this truth one more time.

Menon has already set the altitude record for a woman astronaut. Unless she is selected to go to the Moon or Mars on a mission, she won’t be beating that feat at NASA!

https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-selects-all-american-2025-class-of-astronaut-candidates/

FYI: Anna’s husband Anil is already a NASA astronaut himself.

In NASA’s design, there were six mechanical arms, or actuators, that were used to maneuver the soft-capture ring into place. The arms were programmed to act like springs to be able to absorb the impact when the spacecraft came in contact with the station. But they were complex, required a lot of electrical power, and heavy. If the software or electronics controlling the arms failed, the whole docking could go awry. Mathews and his intern, Craig Western, developed a simpler design using mountain bike springs, which required no software or electronics.

When their prototype was finished, Matthews and Western showed it to Mark Juncosa, one of Musk’s most trusted engineers. Unlike some at the company, who shied away from dealing with Musk directly, Juncosa was unafraid of the boss. He told Matthews this was something Musk would want to see and that they should go show him the prototype that instant. Without an appointment, they rolled the McDocker over to Musk’s cubicle and asked him to take a look.

Musk studied it intensely, pulling and pushing on the docking ring, while rubbing his chin. After just a few minutes, he said, “Yep, let’s do this.” There were no deliberations. No consultations with other engineers. No memos or meetings. Musk liked what he saw and simply made the decision to go.

“At SpaceX, once you have the green light you can just run a million miles an hour in that direction,” said Matthews, who is now the CEO of Astrolab, a company building a rover for the moon. “There’s no hand-wringing about it. You just start going.”

Non-paywalled link:
https://archive.is/depE1

Whatever people think of Elon in other respects, we get reminded once again of just how essential he has been to SpaceX’s staggering success.

And the fact that Matthews is now CEO at Astrolab shows his other long-term legacy: He’s remaking the entire American space industry via pollination of some of his most brilliant employees into the senior positions of other startups.

That has perhaps been lowered to 800 kg:

https://techxplore.com/news/2025-09-3d-fuel-cells-reshape-sustainable.html

Another step forward for fusion:
https://techxplore.com/news/2025-09-experimental-proof-multiscale-coupling-plasma.html

DogeDesigner @cb_doge
Elon Musk on Why Charlie Kirk was killed?
“He was killed because his words made a difference. He was showing people the light & he was killed by the dark.”
15 seconds
1:35 PM · Sep 21, 2025
https://x.com/cb_doge/status/1969863013986390208

We’re putting the band back together.

Dan Scavino Jr.🇺🇸 @DanScavino
@POTUS @ElonMusk
4:43 PM · Sep 21, 2025
https://x.com/DanScavino/status/1969910461572198722

A large, inert dish where electronics boxes is all that needs swapping, apart from roll on solar that can go over old, more rugged panels. 1950’s-1970’s tech that can laugh at solar flares with electronic boxes lined with lead–maybe solar thermal with fluids that “clot” instead of spew. Fluidics can be inert.

Old automatic transmissions have elaborate channels. Where A.I. might be useful is in designing solar thermal channels that can re-route. Now, I understand there are chips that use light and even sound.

Rad hardening isn’t the only path to space-rating.

A few of these antenna farms covers the planet, don’t annoy astronomers –and is useful to everyone but gamers and day traders.

Such tech might even endure a Carrington Event if built robustly enough, with early warning.

–and I get laughed to scorn if I mention it.

But put over-compact chips and server farm bits outside the protection of the atmosphere–and fools through money at it hand-over-foot.

There is an old saying about living life as if it is your last day to walk the Earth–but PLAN as if you will live 1,000 years.

Tell that to libertarians, and all they hear is “plan” and they start red-baiting.

It looks like Starcloud and Mission Space are offering a predictive space-weather service. At this point, maybe a solution looking for a problem.