Short Takes – 10-7-25 – Space Geek Edition

HEO looks to expand satellite imaging beyond low Earth orbit. SpaceNews.com article. Pull quote: “The company has been able to observe satellites at altitude of up to about 700 kilometers, but Crowe said HEO is working to install cameras on other satellites to enable observations of satellites at up to 1,200 kilometers. “This is where a lot of critical assets are, and there’s a lot of tensions about the things being launched those altitudes,” he said.”

Blue Origin aims to land next New Glenn booster, then reuse it for Moon mission. ArsTechnica.com article. Pull quote: “But there's more on the line. If Blue Origin plans to launch its first robotic Moon lander early next year—as currently envisioned—the company needs to recover the New Glenn rocket's first stage booster. Crews will again dispatch Blue Origin's landing platform into the Atlantic Ocean, just as they did for the first New Glenn flight in January.”

Starlab partners unveil full-scale mockup of commercial space station. SpaceNews.com article. Pull quote: “Starlab also announced Oct 3 that Saber Astronautics, based in Australia and the United States, would become a channel and implementation partner. “Saber Astronautics will play a dual role: driving business development by engaging new customers for Starlab’s microgravity platform and providing technical execution services including feasibility assessments, hardware integration and in-orbit operational support,” according to the news release.”

NASA’s mission around the moon now has a name and a date. TheHill.com commentary. Pull quote: “Could Artemis II recreate the uniting effect that Apollo 8 wrought 57 years ago? One factor to consider is that the media infrastructure is vastly different in 2025 than it was in 1968. Three major networks and a few newspapers disseminated what people knew about the world when Apollo 8 flew. Now, between cable news and social media, the media landscape discourages consensus.”

ESA’s ExoMars and Mars Express observe comet 3I/ATLAS. ESA.int article. Instruments not designed for astronomical observation. Pull quote: “Colin Wilson, Mars Express and ExoMars project scientist at ESA says: “Though our Mars orbiters continue to make impressive contributions to Mars science, it’s always extra exciting to see them responding to unexpected situations like this one. I look forward to seeing what the data reveals following further analysis.””

Did NASA's Perseverance Mars rover just see interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS in the Martian night sky? Space.com article. Pull quote: “On his blog, Avi Loeb of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian wrote that the cylindrical stripe-like appearance of the object in the image "was generated by the integration time used to make the composite Navcam image, during which 3I/ATLAS moved across the Martian sky."” Lack of NASA quote due to funding fiasco.