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Genesis cover

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. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. 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


Curiosity prepares to move on

8:44 am

Route through Murray Buttes

After several days of drilling, the Curiosity science team is preparing to move forward. As one member of the team notes,

After a short drive we’ll acquire images for context and targeting. Overnight, Curiosity will complete a SAM electrical baseline test to monitor instrument health. Based on some of the recent Mastcam images that we’ve acquired…, the view ahead should be quite scenic as we drive through the Murray Buttes!

The image above is a close-up of those Buttes, showing Balanced Rock on the left, taken from one of three raw left navigation images. The image below is a panorama I have created from those navigation images, with an inset box to show the location of the above picture.

Panorama of Murray Buttes

It appears, based on all of the images they have taken in the past day, Sol 1427, that they are trying to decide how to get around that small patch of dark sand directly ahead, and whether they can drive Curiosity through the gap in which the balanced rock is located.

Below is part of a Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image, showing Curiosity’s most recent position and annotated by me to highlight the view from the panorama above as well as the location of the balanced rock (marked by the “X”). I have also indicated with a dotted line two possible routes. I suspect, unfortunately, that they are leaning towards the route to the west in order to avoid being forced to cross that dark sand in the eastern gap.

Possible routes through Murray Buttes

I also suspect that they are doing the short drive today in order to get a better idea of which way to go thereafter. Either way, the view will be quite interesting in the days ahead. Below is another section of the same Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image, this time showing the rough terrain ahead to the south, surrounded by sharp buttes on all sides. Beyond this the ground appears to get even rougher. Picking Curiosity’s way through this terrain is going to become increasingly interesting in the coming days.

The way forward

Readers!

 

Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.

 

In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the 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. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.

 

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5 comments

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