Kiss – Black Diamond
An evening pause: Performed live on television 1975. Above these guys are musical showmen.
Hat tip Wamphyr.
August 26, 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.
- The Miura-5 rocket’s second-stage engine for the Spanish rocket startup PLD is now ready for qualification testing
The company had been targeting the first launch of Miura-5 before the end of 2025. It appears that launch will likely slip to early 2026.
- On this day in 1989, Voyager 2 made its closest approach to Neptune
It passed within 3,000 miles of the planet, and to this day is still the only spacecraft to get a close look.
- On this day in 2003, NASA launched the Spitzer Space Telescope, the fourth in the Great Observatory program
An infrared telescope, Spitzer was a precursor to the Webb Space Telescope. It was named after Lyman Spitzer, who conceived the Hubble Space Telescope and was central in getting it built.
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.
- The Miura-5 rocket’s second-stage engine for the Spanish rocket startup PLD is now ready for qualification testing
The company had been targeting the first launch of Miura-5 before the end of 2025. It appears that launch will likely slip to early 2026.
- On this day in 1989, Voyager 2 made its closest approach to Neptune
It passed within 3,000 miles of the planet, and to this day is still the only spacecraft to get a close look.
- On this day in 2003, NASA launched the Spitzer Space Telescope, the fourth in the Great Observatory program
An infrared telescope, Spitzer was a precursor to the Webb Space Telescope. It was named after Lyman Spitzer, who conceived the Hubble Space Telescope and was central in getting it built.
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 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 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
The beauty of Mars’ many-layered northern icecap
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on July 1, 2025 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).
The science team labels it clumsily as “North Polar layered deposits structural geology in icy layers”. What we see are the many layers that make up the north polar cap, produced by the red planet’s many climate cycles that scientists think Mars has undergone over the eons as the red planet’s rotational tilt, or obliquity, rocked back and forth from 11 degrees inclination to as much as 60 degrees. At the extremes, the ice cap was either growing or shrinking, while today (at 25 degrees inclination) it appears to be in a steady state.
These layers are a mixture of ice and dust. The variations from dark to light likely indicate changes in the amount of dust in the atmosphere. Dark layers suggest the atmosphere was more dusty due to volcanic eruptions. Light layers suggest the planet’s volcanic activity was more subdued.
At least that’s one hypothesis.
» Read more
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on July 1, 2025 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).
The science team labels it clumsily as “North Polar layered deposits structural geology in icy layers”. What we see are the many layers that make up the north polar cap, produced by the red planet’s many climate cycles that scientists think Mars has undergone over the eons as the red planet’s rotational tilt, or obliquity, rocked back and forth from 11 degrees inclination to as much as 60 degrees. At the extremes, the ice cap was either growing or shrinking, while today (at 25 degrees inclination) it appears to be in a steady state.
These layers are a mixture of ice and dust. The variations from dark to light likely indicate changes in the amount of dust in the atmosphere. Dark layers suggest the atmosphere was more dusty due to volcanic eruptions. Light layers suggest the planet’s volcanic activity was more subdued.
At least that’s one hypothesis.
» Read more
On the road today
Diane and I are on the road today, leaving the Grand Canyon, which remains as grand as ever, and heading to Colorado to visit friends we haven’t seen since before the COVID panic.
Thus, I will likely not be able to watch today’s third attempt by SpaceX to complete the tenth launch of its Starship/Superheavy rocket, as it happens.. (Live stream can be found here.)
Once settled in Colorado I will catch up. Like you all, I have my fingers crossed that the launch will go off as hoped with a largely successful test flight.
One fortunate thing that has occurred during the previous two launch attempts in the past two days is that it appears the protest of boats proposed by a Mexico radical activist group to block the launch has so appeared to be a bust. There has been no indication of any boats entering the launch range in the Gulf of Mexico, and if any have tried, it appears they have been removed quickly.
Diane and I are on the road today, leaving the Grand Canyon, which remains as grand as ever, and heading to Colorado to visit friends we haven’t seen since before the COVID panic.
Thus, I will likely not be able to watch today’s third attempt by SpaceX to complete the tenth launch of its Starship/Superheavy rocket, as it happens.. (Live stream can be found here.)
Once settled in Colorado I will catch up. Like you all, I have my fingers crossed that the launch will go off as hoped with a largely successful test flight.
One fortunate thing that has occurred during the previous two launch attempts in the past two days is that it appears the protest of boats proposed by a Mexico radical activist group to block the launch has so appeared to be a bust. There has been no indication of any boats entering the launch range in the Gulf of Mexico, and if any have tried, it appears they have been removed quickly.
Now available in hardback and paperback as well as ebook!
From the press release: In this ground-breaking new history of early America, historian Robert Zimmerman not only exposes the lie behind The New York Times 1619 Project that falsely claims slavery is central to the history of the United States, he also provides profound lessons about the nature of human societies, lessons important for Americans today as well as for all future settlers on Mars and elsewhere in space.
Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space, is a riveting page-turning story that documents how slavery slowly became pervasive in the southern British colonies of North America, colonies founded by a people and culture that not only did not allow slavery but in every way were hostile to the practice.
Conscious Choice does more however. In telling the tragic history of the Virginia colony and the rise of slavery there, Zimmerman lays out the proper path for creating healthy societies in places like the Moon and Mars.
“Zimmerman’s ground-breaking history provides every future generation the basic framework for establishing new societies on other worlds. We would be wise to heed what he says.” —Robert Zubrin, founder of the Mars Society.
All editions are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and all book vendors, with the ebook priced at $5.99 before discount. All editions can also be purchased direct from the ebook publisher, ebookit, in which case you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
Autographed printed copies are also available at discount directly from the author (hardback $29.95; paperback $14.95; Shipping cost for either: $6.00). Just send an email to zimmerman @ nasw dot org.
China launches 10 more satellites in its Guowang constellation
China today successfully launched another ten satellites for its Guowang internet constellation, its Long March 8A rocket lifting off from its coastal Wenchang spaceport.
This was the tenth launch for the Guowang constellation, which eventually intends to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink with a constellation of 13,000 satellites. Today’s launch brings the number of satellites presently in orbit to 82.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
104 SpaceX
48 China
12 Rocket Lab
11 Russia
SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 104 to 84.
China today successfully launched another ten satellites for its Guowang internet constellation, its Long March 8A rocket lifting off from its coastal Wenchang spaceport.
This was the tenth launch for the Guowang constellation, which eventually intends to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink with a constellation of 13,000 satellites. Today’s launch brings the number of satellites presently in orbit to 82.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
104 SpaceX
48 China
12 Rocket Lab
11 Russia
SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 104 to 84.
Webb and SPHEREx space telescopes observe interstellar Comet 3I/Atlas
Both the Webb Space Telescope and the newer SPHEREx space telescopes have now been aimed by scientists at the interstellar comet 3I/Atlas.
According to the paper describing the Webb results, the comet’s coma is dominated by carbon dioxide gas.
The SPHEREx results [pdf] also show a strong signal of carbon dioxice in the coma, as well as a strong signal of water ice in its nucleus.
These results, along with all the observations by multiple other telescopes in space and on the ground, are in line with what is expected from a comet, with the kind of unique differences expected from each object. There is nothing seen so far from the data to suggest anything alien about it, despite the claims of some pubicity-seeking scientists who don’t even specialize in comet research.
The big scientific discovery here is that this interstellar comet is so much like comets that come from our own solar system. The implication is that other solar systems have great similarities to our own. .
Both the Webb Space Telescope and the newer SPHEREx space telescopes have now been aimed by scientists at the interstellar comet 3I/Atlas.
According to the paper describing the Webb results, the comet’s coma is dominated by carbon dioxide gas.
The SPHEREx results [pdf] also show a strong signal of carbon dioxice in the coma, as well as a strong signal of water ice in its nucleus.
These results, along with all the observations by multiple other telescopes in space and on the ground, are in line with what is expected from a comet, with the kind of unique differences expected from each object. There is nothing seen so far from the data to suggest anything alien about it, despite the claims of some pubicity-seeking scientists who don’t even specialize in comet research.
The big scientific discovery here is that this interstellar comet is so much like comets that come from our own solar system. The implication is that other solar systems have great similarities to our own. .
Leaving Earth: Space Stations, Rival Superpowers, and the Quest for Interplanetary Travel, can be purchased as an ebook everywhere for only $3.99 (before discount) at amazon, Barnes & Noble, all ebook vendors, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big oppressive tech companies and I get a bigger cut much sooner.
Winner of the 2003 Eugene M. Emme Award of the American Astronautical Society.
"Leaving Earth is one of the best and certainly the most comprehensive summary of our drive into space that I have ever read. It will be invaluable to future scholars because it will tell them how the next chapter of human history opened." -- Arthur C. Clarke
Cargo Dragon docks with ISS
The unmanned cargo Dragon that SpaceX launched on August 24, 2025 successfully docked with ISS earlier today.
At 7:05 a.m. EDT, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked to the forward port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module. The spacecraft carried over 5,000 pounds of scientific investigations and cargo to the orbiting laboratory on SpaceX’s 33rd commercial resupply services mission for NASA.
It will remained docked for the next several months.
The unmanned cargo Dragon that SpaceX launched on August 24, 2025 successfully docked with ISS earlier today.
At 7:05 a.m. EDT, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked to the forward port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module. The spacecraft carried over 5,000 pounds of scientific investigations and cargo to the orbiting laboratory on SpaceX’s 33rd commercial resupply services mission for NASA.
It will remained docked for the next several months.
Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra -Peter Gunn TV show theme
An evening pause: Performed live c2016. The Peter Gunn showed aired in the late 1950s.
Hat tip Don Carrera.
Tenth orbital test flight of Superheavy/Starship scrubbed due to weather
The tenth orbial test flight of SpaceX’s Starship/Superheavy rocket was scrubbed tonight due to bad weather.
The countdown got down to T-40 seconds before scrubbing. Mission control then ran the count down to T-10 to complete instead a full dress rehearsal countdown before fully scrubbing.
Expect them to try again tomorrow, though this has not yet been confirmed.
The tenth orbial test flight of SpaceX’s Starship/Superheavy rocket was scrubbed tonight due to bad weather.
The countdown got down to T-40 seconds before scrubbing. Mission control then ran the count down to T-10 to complete instead a full dress rehearsal countdown before fully scrubbing.
Expect them to try again tomorrow, though this has not yet been confirmed.
August 25, 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.
- Amateur astronomer images the just launched X-37B
He also captured a smallsat in the imagery.
- Billboard for new Chinese spaceport at Haiyang touts planned 4 land-based launchpads and 4 semi-floating pads off the coast
This site on China’s northeast coast would give it more launch capacity without having to drop stages on their citizens’ heads.
- NASA reposts the spectacular images of the asteroid Dimorphos after its impact by DART, taken by the Italian LICIACube spacecraft as flew past the asteroid immediately thereafter
The images found that 35.3 million pounds of rubble spewed from the asteroid.
- On this day in 2006, the IAU passed its idiotic new definition of a planet expressly designed to take that designation from Pluto
Almost no planetary scientist agrees with that definition. They generally ignore it.
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.
- Amateur astronomer images the just launched X-37B
He also captured a smallsat in the imagery.
- Billboard for new Chinese spaceport at Haiyang touts planned 4 land-based launchpads and 4 semi-floating pads off the coast
This site on China’s northeast coast would give it more launch capacity without having to drop stages on their citizens’ heads.
- NASA reposts the spectacular images of the asteroid Dimorphos after its impact by DART, taken by the Italian LICIACube spacecraft as flew past the asteroid immediately thereafter
The images found that 35.3 million pounds of rubble spewed from the asteroid.
- On this day in 2006, the IAU passed its idiotic new definition of a planet expressly designed to take that designation from Pluto
Almost no planetary scientist agrees with that definition. They generally ignore it.
Wind-eroded terrain on the edge of Mars’ largest volcanic ash field
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped and sharpened to post here, was taken on July 2, 2025 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).
Labeled simply as “wavy terrain” by the MRO science team, it shows a relatively flat plain of hollows and terraced ridges that suggest the prevailing winds come from the west-southwest. As they blow, they slowly cause the layers of material to peel away, exposing those terraces.
This wavy landscape extends for many miles to the west, covering a region 135 by 160 miles in area. The layering and wavy nature of the terrain suggests the material here is fragile and easily peeled away by the winds of Mars’ very thin atmosphere. Think of the sandstone that forms Monument Valley and Canyonlands in the southwest United States, shaped almost entirely by wind.
And in fact, the overview map below confirms this.
» Read more
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped and sharpened to post here, was taken on July 2, 2025 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).
Labeled simply as “wavy terrain” by the MRO science team, it shows a relatively flat plain of hollows and terraced ridges that suggest the prevailing winds come from the west-southwest. As they blow, they slowly cause the layers of material to peel away, exposing those terraces.
This wavy landscape extends for many miles to the west, covering a region 135 by 160 miles in area. The layering and wavy nature of the terrain suggests the material here is fragile and easily peeled away by the winds of Mars’ very thin atmosphere. Think of the sandstone that forms Monument Valley and Canyonlands in the southwest United States, shaped almost entirely by wind.
And in fact, the overview map below confirms this.
» Read more
Contact re-established with Jupiter probe Juice after a month
After losing all communications with Europe’s probe Juice on July 16th, on its way to Jupiter, engineers have finally re-established communications and found the spacecraft to be in sound condition.
Six attempts to steer the medium-gain antenna back towards Earth were unsuccessful. Recovery efforts continued overnight, lasting almost 20 hours and focusing on manually powering up Juice’s onboard communication systems.
Eventually, a command succeeded in reaching Juice and triggering a response. The command activated the signal amplifier that boosts the strength of the signal that Juice sends towards Earth. Contact was re-established, and Juice was found to be in excellent condition. No systems had failed, and all telemetry was nominal.
The root cause was traced to a software timing bug. The software function that switches the signal amplifier on and off relies on an internal timer. This timer is constantly counting up and restarts from zero once every 16 months. If the function happens to be using the timer at the exact moment it restarts, the amplifier remains switched off, and Juice’s signal is too weak to detect from Earth.
The spacecraft has a scheduled fly-by of Venus on August 31st, so regaining contact was critical. It has already done one Earth fly-by, with two more scheduled, before it arrives in Jupiter orbiter in July 2031.
After losing all communications with Europe’s probe Juice on July 16th, on its way to Jupiter, engineers have finally re-established communications and found the spacecraft to be in sound condition.
Six attempts to steer the medium-gain antenna back towards Earth were unsuccessful. Recovery efforts continued overnight, lasting almost 20 hours and focusing on manually powering up Juice’s onboard communication systems.
Eventually, a command succeeded in reaching Juice and triggering a response. The command activated the signal amplifier that boosts the strength of the signal that Juice sends towards Earth. Contact was re-established, and Juice was found to be in excellent condition. No systems had failed, and all telemetry was nominal.
The root cause was traced to a software timing bug. The software function that switches the signal amplifier on and off relies on an internal timer. This timer is constantly counting up and restarts from zero once every 16 months. If the function happens to be using the timer at the exact moment it restarts, the amplifier remains switched off, and Juice’s signal is too weak to detect from Earth.
The spacecraft has a scheduled fly-by of Venus on August 31st, so regaining contact was critical. It has already done one Earth fly-by, with two more scheduled, before it arrives in Jupiter orbiter in July 2031.
Tenth Starship/Superheavy launch scrubbed due to ground equipment issue
SpaceX today scrubbed the tenth orbital test launch of its Starship/Superheavy rocket due to an issue with ground equipment,
The launch has been rescheduled for August 25, 2025, with a launch window opening at 6:30 pm (Central), Live stream here.
India completes 1st complete Gaganyaan capsule parachute drop test
India’s space agency this week successfully conducted a parachute drop test of its Gaganyaan manned capsule, planned for its first manned orbital mission in 2027.
ISRO has done smaller drop tests into a pool. This was the first by helicopter over the ocean.
The first unmanned Gaganyaan orbital test flight is targeting a December 2025 launch.
India’s space agency this week successfully conducted a parachute drop test of its Gaganyaan manned capsule, planned for its first manned orbital mission in 2027.
ISRO has done smaller drop tests into a pool. This was the first by helicopter over the ocean.
The first unmanned Gaganyaan orbital test flight is targeting a December 2025 launch.
SpaceX launches a cargo Dragon to ISS
SpaceX last night successfully launched an unmanned Dragon cargo capsule to ISS, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
The first stage completed its third flight, landing back at Cape Canaveral. The Dragon, carrying 5,000 pounds of cargo, will dock at ISS on August 25, 2025 in the early morning. During its mission at ISS it will also do a test engine burn to see if it can raise ISS’s orbit, the kind of orbital adjustments that have been routinely done by the Russian Progress freighters.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
104 SpaceX
47 China
12 Rocket Lab
11 Russia
SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 104 to 83.
SpaceX last night successfully launched an unmanned Dragon cargo capsule to ISS, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
The first stage completed its third flight, landing back at Cape Canaveral. The Dragon, carrying 5,000 pounds of cargo, will dock at ISS on August 25, 2025 in the early morning. During its mission at ISS it will also do a test engine burn to see if it can raise ISS’s orbit, the kind of orbital adjustments that have been routinely done by the Russian Progress freighters.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
104 SpaceX
47 China
12 Rocket Lab
11 Russia
SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 104 to 83.
Misconduct alleged in management of Square Kilometer Array in Australia
According to a whistle-blower, there has been financial misconduct in international management of the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) being built in remote western Australia.
In response to the disclosure, a copy of which has been seen by the Guardian, Zerbi has initiated an investigation into claims that public funds from member states have been lost through trading accounts – and then covered up by the organisation through the shuffling of funds internally.
At the centre of the misconduct allegations is a claim that at least £12m (A$25.1m) was lost through investment in three money market funds, with one fund allegedly losing 45% of its value. The Guardian has seen balance sheet extracts and statements that appear to confirm the investments by the SKAO, which is headquartered at the Jodrell Bank Observatory near Manchester.
The report also calls for an investigation into claims funds are being shifted within the organisation, and currency fluctuations being fabricated to conceal these losses from the governing council overseeing the project.
The project is significantly overbudget.
SKA management denies the alliegations, though it has at the same time begun its own investigation.
This corruption likely stems from the project’s international setup, which apparantly makes it “immune from normal legal processes and exempt from paying tax.” In addition, “international staff employed on the project in Australia are hired on diplomatic visas.” Under these conditions we should not be surprised if some hanky-panky with large sums of money took place.
According to a whistle-blower, there has been financial misconduct in international management of the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) being built in remote western Australia.
In response to the disclosure, a copy of which has been seen by the Guardian, Zerbi has initiated an investigation into claims that public funds from member states have been lost through trading accounts – and then covered up by the organisation through the shuffling of funds internally.
At the centre of the misconduct allegations is a claim that at least £12m (A$25.1m) was lost through investment in three money market funds, with one fund allegedly losing 45% of its value. The Guardian has seen balance sheet extracts and statements that appear to confirm the investments by the SKAO, which is headquartered at the Jodrell Bank Observatory near Manchester.
The report also calls for an investigation into claims funds are being shifted within the organisation, and currency fluctuations being fabricated to conceal these losses from the governing council overseeing the project.
The project is significantly overbudget.
SKA management denies the alliegations, though it has at the same time begun its own investigation.
This corruption likely stems from the project’s international setup, which apparantly makes it “immune from normal legal processes and exempt from paying tax.” In addition, “international staff employed on the project in Australia are hired on diplomatic visas.” Under these conditions we should not be surprised if some hanky-panky with large sums of money took place.
Rocket Lab successfully launches a private payload
Rocket Lab today successfully launched the second of two launches for an unnamed customer, its Electron rocket lifting off from one of its two launchpads in New Zealand.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
103 SpaceX
47 China
12 Rocket Lab
11 Russia
SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 103 to 83.
Rocket Lab today successfully launched the second of two launches for an unnamed customer, its Electron rocket lifting off from one of its two launchpads in New Zealand.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
103 SpaceX
47 China
12 Rocket Lab
11 Russia
SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 103 to 83.
Off to the Grand Canyon and Colorado
Diane and I are taking a short six-day vacation up north, beginning today. This is actually our first trip together since the COVID panic, and we are both looking forward to it.
Our original plan had been to do a hike to the bottom, stay overnight at Phantom Ranch, and then hike out the next day. For a variety of reasons, including the fire on the north rim that has closed Phantom Ranch till the late fall, we shifted our plans to spending a few days at the south rim. We will hike the rim trail one day (something Diane hasn’t yet done), and do other stuff the next. We will then head to Colorado to visit friends.
I will be posting while I am on the road, but don’t expect long essays.
Diane and I are taking a short six-day vacation up north, beginning today. This is actually our first trip together since the COVID panic, and we are both looking forward to it.
Our original plan had been to do a hike to the bottom, stay overnight at Phantom Ranch, and then hike out the next day. For a variety of reasons, including the fire on the north rim that has closed Phantom Ranch till the late fall, we shifted our plans to spending a few days at the south rim. We will hike the rim trail one day (something Diane hasn’t yet done), and do other stuff the next. We will then head to Colorado to visit friends.
I will be posting while I am on the road, but don’t expect long essays.
August 22, 2025 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast
Embedded below the fold in two parts.
To listen to all of John Batchelor’s podcasts, go here.
» Read more
Embedded below the fold in two parts.
To listen to all of John Batchelor’s podcasts, go here.
» Read more
August 22, 2025 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, who apologizes for the lateness due to a hectic day at work. 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.
- Chinese pseudo-company Nayuta Space releases movie animation showing how its proposed first stage will return to Earth
It would land horizontally, not vertically. Assuming this fantasy ever actually happens.
- Astronomers prove that millimeter radiation is generated close to the core of a supermassive black hole
Need I say it?
- India’s space agency ISRO touts a fullscale model of the 1st module of India’s Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS)
The full station will have five modules, assembled in orbit from ’28 to ’35, if all goes as scheduled.
- 60 years ago Gemini-5 was the first mission to use fuel cells to power a manned spacecraft
Proving out that technology was essential for the Apollo missions, as NASA had determined that solar power was not yet ready.
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, who apologizes for the lateness due to a hectic day at work. 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.
- Chinese pseudo-company Nayuta Space releases movie animation showing how its proposed first stage will return to Earth
It would land horizontally, not vertically. Assuming this fantasy ever actually happens.
- Astronomers prove that millimeter radiation is generated close to the core of a supermassive black hole
Need I say it?
- India’s space agency ISRO touts a fullscale model of the 1st module of India’s Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS)
The full station will have five modules, assembled in orbit from ’28 to ’35, if all goes as scheduled.
- 60 years ago Gemini-5 was the first mission to use fuel cells to power a manned spacecraft
Proving out that technology was essential for the Apollo missions, as NASA had determined that solar power was not yet ready.
Saturday Night Live – Washington’s Dream
SpaceX gets major tax credit for the jobs its new Starship factory will create.
Because SpaceX’s new Starship factory, dubbed Gigabay, will create more than 500 new jobs in the Boca Chica region, the Starbase city commission this week awarded the company a sales tax refund valued as much as $3.75 million.
Gigabay will create about 630 new jobs, according to information Barrera showed the City Commission. That number included 315 entry-level jobs, which pay nearly $50,000 a year; 277 staff jobs, which pay nearly $90,000 a year; and 26 manager positions, which pay about $164,000 a year. … At least 25% of the jobs must be filled by veterans, residents of the enterprise zone or people who are considered economically disadvantaged.
SpaceX may receive a sales tax refund of $7,500 per job if the company invests $250 million. The program is capped at 500 jobs, allowing SpaceX to receive a maximum of $3,750,000.
Once again, the opposition to SpaceX does not come from the general public, which overwhelming supports what the company is doing in south Texas because of the wealth it is bringing to the region. The only opposition comes from fringe and very tiny leftist activist groups who oppose anything new, and specifically hate Elon Musk because he backed Donald Trump in last year’s election.
Sadly, those fringe groups are also backed by the propaganda press, which gives them a loud bullhorn they don’t deserve. It is imperative that Texas politicians recognize these facts, and not let that bullhorn bully them into actions detrimental to their constituents.
Because SpaceX’s new Starship factory, dubbed Gigabay, will create more than 500 new jobs in the Boca Chica region, the Starbase city commission this week awarded the company a sales tax refund valued as much as $3.75 million.
Gigabay will create about 630 new jobs, according to information Barrera showed the City Commission. That number included 315 entry-level jobs, which pay nearly $50,000 a year; 277 staff jobs, which pay nearly $90,000 a year; and 26 manager positions, which pay about $164,000 a year. … At least 25% of the jobs must be filled by veterans, residents of the enterprise zone or people who are considered economically disadvantaged.
SpaceX may receive a sales tax refund of $7,500 per job if the company invests $250 million. The program is capped at 500 jobs, allowing SpaceX to receive a maximum of $3,750,000.
Once again, the opposition to SpaceX does not come from the general public, which overwhelming supports what the company is doing in south Texas because of the wealth it is bringing to the region. The only opposition comes from fringe and very tiny leftist activist groups who oppose anything new, and specifically hate Elon Musk because he backed Donald Trump in last year’s election.
Sadly, those fringe groups are also backed by the propaganda press, which gives them a loud bullhorn they don’t deserve. It is imperative that Texas politicians recognize these facts, and not let that bullhorn bully them into actions detrimental to their constituents.
Texas brewery tries brewing beer and growing barley on ISS
A Texas brewery dubbed Starbase Brewing (no connection to SpaceX) has just completed an experiment on ISS where it tried to brew beer in weightlessness as well as grow barley in simulated Martian soil.
Starbase Brewing — unrelated to Elon Musk’s space company or its South Texas city of Starbase — sent its MicroBrew-1 and OASIS experiments to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX mission Aug. 1. They came back aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that splashed down eight days later off the coast of California.
…OASIS, short for “Optimizing Agriculture in Simulated Interplanetary Soils,” is the result of a partnership between the beer maker, Texas A&M AgriLife and Jaguar Space, a Colorado bioastronautics firm. According to Argroves, who launched the company in 2020, the goal was to grow barley in a mixture of Martian soil simulant with a byproduct of beermaking called Brewer’s Spent Grain and microbes.
The MicroBrew-1 experiment attempted to ferment beer, mixing “eight containers loaded with half wort — the sugary liquid extracted from malted grains — and half yeast.”
The company is far from manufacturing space-grown beer, but its founder seems focused on being the first brewery selling beer on Mars.
A Texas brewery dubbed Starbase Brewing (no connection to SpaceX) has just completed an experiment on ISS where it tried to brew beer in weightlessness as well as grow barley in simulated Martian soil.
Starbase Brewing — unrelated to Elon Musk’s space company or its South Texas city of Starbase — sent its MicroBrew-1 and OASIS experiments to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX mission Aug. 1. They came back aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that splashed down eight days later off the coast of California.
…OASIS, short for “Optimizing Agriculture in Simulated Interplanetary Soils,” is the result of a partnership between the beer maker, Texas A&M AgriLife and Jaguar Space, a Colorado bioastronautics firm. According to Argroves, who launched the company in 2020, the goal was to grow barley in a mixture of Martian soil simulant with a byproduct of beermaking called Brewer’s Spent Grain and microbes.
The MicroBrew-1 experiment attempted to ferment beer, mixing “eight containers loaded with half wort — the sugary liquid extracted from malted grains — and half yeast.”
The company is far from manufacturing space-grown beer, but its founder seems focused on being the first brewery selling beer on Mars.
Junk science now dominates the reporting of the propaganda press
The Sciences, when the goal of science journalism
was to report real discoveries
When I started my career as a science journalist in the early 1990s, Peter Brown, the editor of award-winning magazine The Sciences (now sadly discountinued), assigned me the job of writing short news pieces. He pointed at a three-foot-high pile of press releases, and suggested I go through them to find some scientific discovery worth reporting.
As I went through this pile each month, I found that 90% described results that while interesting certainly did not merit any news coverage. Many described theories that “might” or “could” be true, hardly examples of solid new knowledge. I would find a handful of releases worth a news report, while the remaining 90% would get thrown in the dumpster.
Unfortunately, limited space in the magazine often meant that only one of the stories I thought worthwhile would be reported, but it also meant the story we picked was of real significance. The reader was guaranteed to read about important research results, because the technology then forced us to be discriminating.
That was then. Today, things are very different. The web allows modern news outlets to report about practically every press release they get. Nothing gets thrown away. If anything, new outlets today relish reporting on the least significant science results, merely because the scientists speculate about some amazing final events that “might,” “could,” or “may” happen, if their theories are right. The press eats this junk science up, because it produces great clickbait that, while as vapid as cotton candy, sounds really cool or exciting. That these speculations have no basis in reality is irrelevant.
To give you an idea of what I mean, here are a few examples from our modern propaganda press that I have gathered in just the past week:
» Read more
SpaceX launches 24 more Starlink satellites
SpaceX today successfully launched another 24 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg in California.
The first stage completed its seventeenth flight, landing on a drone ship in the Pacific.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
103 SpaceX
47 China
11 Rocket Lab
11 Russia
SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 103 to 82.
SpaceX today successfully launched another 24 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg in California.
The first stage completed its seventeenth flight, landing on a drone ship in the Pacific.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
103 SpaceX
47 China
11 Rocket Lab
11 Russia
SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 103 to 82.
Study: Car design has worsened, increasing blindspots which cause accidents
The view out of a modern car
Our present dark age: According to a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), in the past two decades the design of cars has drastically decreased the visibility for drivers so that blindspots are larger, resulting in an increase in accidents.
Puzzled by traffic accident data showing that fatalities for cyclists and pedestrians had risen over the past 25 years, while car passenger deaths had come down, IIHS researchers wondered whether drivers might be finding it harder to see those more vulnerable road users.
And they discovered that successive versions of long-running popular cars had obstructed, more and more, a driver’s view of the 10 meters (33 ft) of space they were about to drive into. That near-car view, from the eye point of the average male driver, had shrunk on every one of six long-running models tested, IIHS testing showed, when an early (1997-plus) version was compared with the version on sale in 2023.
In the case of traditional cars, the near-car viewable area had contracted only slightly, the 7-8% reductions from the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry possibly even attributable to measurement error.
When it came to SUVs, however, the shrinkage was dramatic. The driver of a 1997 Honda CR-V could see 68% of a forward half-circle whose perimeter was 10 meters (33 ft) from their eye point – slightly more, in fact, than from the sedans that were tested. The driver of a 2023 CR-V could see just 28% of that semi-circle. In relative terms, the driver of the 2023 CR-V could see only 42% of what they would see from a 1997 model.
You can read the IIHS study here.
Why are designers doing this? One theory is that they are increasingly relying on cameras and software to replace the driver’s sight, and thus feel free to add obstructions to the car body that make it look cool. The problem is that these mechanical non-human solutions simply don’t work as well as the human brain, and thus drivers are hitting things more often.
But don’t worry. Soon AI will soon make it possible for cars will drive themselves! We will even be able to eliminate the windows entirely so that car travel will be an utterly private thing!
The view out of a modern car
Our present dark age: According to a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), in the past two decades the design of cars has drastically decreased the visibility for drivers so that blindspots are larger, resulting in an increase in accidents.
Puzzled by traffic accident data showing that fatalities for cyclists and pedestrians had risen over the past 25 years, while car passenger deaths had come down, IIHS researchers wondered whether drivers might be finding it harder to see those more vulnerable road users.
And they discovered that successive versions of long-running popular cars had obstructed, more and more, a driver’s view of the 10 meters (33 ft) of space they were about to drive into. That near-car view, from the eye point of the average male driver, had shrunk on every one of six long-running models tested, IIHS testing showed, when an early (1997-plus) version was compared with the version on sale in 2023.
In the case of traditional cars, the near-car viewable area had contracted only slightly, the 7-8% reductions from the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry possibly even attributable to measurement error.
When it came to SUVs, however, the shrinkage was dramatic. The driver of a 1997 Honda CR-V could see 68% of a forward half-circle whose perimeter was 10 meters (33 ft) from their eye point – slightly more, in fact, than from the sedans that were tested. The driver of a 2023 CR-V could see just 28% of that semi-circle. In relative terms, the driver of the 2023 CR-V could see only 42% of what they would see from a 1997 model.
You can read the IIHS study here.
Why are designers doing this? One theory is that they are increasingly relying on cameras and software to replace the driver’s sight, and thus feel free to add obstructions to the car body that make it look cool. The problem is that these mechanical non-human solutions simply don’t work as well as the human brain, and thus drivers are hitting things more often.
But don’t worry. Soon AI will soon make it possible for cars will drive themselves! We will even be able to eliminate the windows entirely so that car travel will be an utterly private thing!
New Horizons placed in hibernation, possibly forever
The science team running the New Horizons probe, now more then 5.7 billion miles from Earth, has placed the spacecraft into what will be its longest hibernation period so far, with the possibility that it could even last forever.
New Horizons, which had been in active data-collection mode since April, will now remain in hibernation. Pending a final Fiscal Year 2026 budget, the spacecraft may be awoken in late June 2026. This will be the longest hibernation period of the mission so far, surpassing the previous mark of 273 days from June 2022 to March 2023.
But the spacecraft won’t be completely at rest; New Horizons will continue to take round-the-clock measurements of the charged-particle environment in the Sun’s outer heliosphere and the dust environment of the Kuiper Belt using three different onboard scientific instruments. These data will be transmitted back to Earth when New Horizons wakes up. [emphasis mine]
Though the NASA press release puts up an optimistic front, it is very likely that this hibernation period will last significantly longer than planned, due to those budget negotiations. Trump’s budget proposes eliminating all funding for New Horizons, which will mean this hibernation period will be permanent. There will be no money to hire anyone to reactivate it.
Even if the budget is cut, it is probable that NASA management in the future will provide some cash. At the moment there is little for it to observe on a daily basis. All that needs to be done is to turn it on for short periods to download the heliosphere data. Management could simply decide to turn it on once every five years or so.
The science team running the New Horizons probe, now more then 5.7 billion miles from Earth, has placed the spacecraft into what will be its longest hibernation period so far, with the possibility that it could even last forever.
New Horizons, which had been in active data-collection mode since April, will now remain in hibernation. Pending a final Fiscal Year 2026 budget, the spacecraft may be awoken in late June 2026. This will be the longest hibernation period of the mission so far, surpassing the previous mark of 273 days from June 2022 to March 2023.
But the spacecraft won’t be completely at rest; New Horizons will continue to take round-the-clock measurements of the charged-particle environment in the Sun’s outer heliosphere and the dust environment of the Kuiper Belt using three different onboard scientific instruments. These data will be transmitted back to Earth when New Horizons wakes up. [emphasis mine]
Though the NASA press release puts up an optimistic front, it is very likely that this hibernation period will last significantly longer than planned, due to those budget negotiations. Trump’s budget proposes eliminating all funding for New Horizons, which will mean this hibernation period will be permanent. There will be no money to hire anyone to reactivate it.
Even if the budget is cut, it is probable that NASA management in the future will provide some cash. At the moment there is little for it to observe on a daily basis. All that needs to be done is to turn it on for short periods to download the heliosphere data. Management could simply decide to turn it on once every five years or so.
SpaceX launches X-37B for Space Force
SpaceX tonight successfully launched the Space Force’s X-37B mini-shuttle, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
This is the eighth mission for the Space Force’s two X-37Bs. It appears this flight is fourth for this particular X-37B, but this is not confirmed. Nor do we know how long this particular will last in orbit.
SpaceX’s first stage completed its sixth flight, landing back at Cape Canaveral. The fairing halves completed their first and second flights respectively.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
102 SpaceX
47 China
11 Rocket Lab
11 Russia
SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 102 to 82.
SpaceX tonight successfully launched the Space Force’s X-37B mini-shuttle, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
This is the eighth mission for the Space Force’s two X-37Bs. It appears this flight is fourth for this particular X-37B, but this is not confirmed. Nor do we know how long this particular will last in orbit.
SpaceX’s first stage completed its sixth flight, landing back at Cape Canaveral. The fairing halves completed their first and second flights respectively.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
102 SpaceX
47 China
11 Rocket Lab
11 Russia
SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 102 to 82.
The Platters – Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
August 21, 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.
- Starfish gives update on its Otter Pup 2 rendezvous and docking demo mission
Though the update is vague, it appears the tug is now doing its initial rendezvous maneuvers.
- Another new Chinese pseudo-company, Arktech, touts its Bingchuan-1/Glacier-1 rocket, with a reusable first stage
As always, these fake Chinese companies produce great graphics, based on already launched American rockets. Whether anything ever gets built is another story.
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.
- Starfish gives update on its Otter Pup 2 rendezvous and docking demo mission
Though the update is vague, it appears the tug is now doing its initial rendezvous maneuvers.
- Another new Chinese pseudo-company, Arktech, touts its Bingchuan-1/Glacier-1 rocket, with a reusable first stage
As always, these fake Chinese companies produce great graphics, based on already launched American rockets. Whether anything ever gets built is another story.