Scroll down to read this post.

 

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


Mars rover update: January 16, 2018

Summary: Both rovers have moved little in the past month, Opportunity because it is in a good science location and because it must save energy during the winter and Curiosity because it is in a geological location so good the scientists appear to almost be going ga-ga over it.

Curiosity

null

For the overall context of Curiosity’s travels, see Pinpointing Curiosity’s location in Gale Crater.

In the month since my December 18 update, Curiosity has continued to head south rather than east as originally planned (as indicated by the dotted yellow line in the traverse map to the right). Moreover, the rover has not moved very much, because the science team has decided that there is just too much significant geology in this area on Vera Rubin Ridge, also part of a geological unit they have dubbed the Hematite Unit.

Right now the rover is located at an area they call “Region e,” one of the three patches I have also indicated on the image to the right. From the second update below:

This location is a slight depression with exposed fractured bedrock that appears more “blue” from orbit than the surrounding region. In addition, the orbital evidence and observations from the ground suggest that this location is similar to “Region 10” that we visited just last week, which was shown to have some pretty spectacular small-scale features that were of particular interest to many on the science team. As a result, the team was very excited to reach “Region e” and begin our scientific investigation!

The last few updates on the Curiosity mission update page indicate the excitement the geologists have for this site:

circular features on Vera Rubin Ridge

Reader Phil Veerkamp clued me in on one particular intriguing image, taken by Curiosity’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) during this time period. I have posted it on the right, cropping the image to focus on the circular geological features at its center.

As I noted to Phil, I have seen circles formed naturally in caves. Water dripping on fine sand will cause a circular splash ring around it. That these features are not all circles does not matter, as splash rings will only look like circles when viewed from directly above. If the ground is uneven they can appear quite distorted from other viewpoints.

The curved rings in the image to the right however appear to be a protruding features, not a splash depressions. While I can think of a process that would fill in such splash rings with harder material and then leave behind a protruding ring after the fine sand erodes away, I have no idea what geological process would create all these curved features. Moreover, I must remind everyone that I am only an amateur geologist. I am sure the real experts on the Curiosity science team have much better theories. I also am sure that they themselves are also a bit baffled.

Opportunity

For the context of Opportunity’s recent travels along the rim of Endeavour Crater, see my May 15, 2017 rover update.

Opportunity's location in Perserverance Valley, Sol 4836

Not much has changed in the month since my last update Because of the winter season at Opportunity’s location, the rover has limited sunlight available for its batteries. If the scientists move it, they only move it in small increments.

Route choices down Perserverance Valley

One decision has however been reached by the science team. Last month they were trying to decide which of the two routes, as indicated by the red dotted line in the image on the right, they would take down into Perserverance Valley towards the floor of Endeavour Crater.

They have now chosen the northern route, which is exciting because from the traverse image it looks more rugged which means it will have more interesting geology to look at. (Note that though the title of the update at this link says they took the right or south fork, while the text says they took the northern or left fork, I have confirmed that it is the north fork that they have chosen. I expect them to sooner or later correct the update’s title.)

Below is just one image of the many they have taken in recent days. It shows once again the evidence of a consistent directional flow, resembling to my eye slickenslides, features that on Earth are caused by glaciers scrapping on the ground. At the moment however I have been told that the team so far favors wind as the cause of many of these features, though this consensus can of course change with time.

flow features in Perserverance Valley

The support of my readers through the years has given 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. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.

 

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. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to 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.

 

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.

 

Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.

 

You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five 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:

4. A Paypal subscription:


5. 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. And if you buy the books through the ebookit links, I get a larger cut and I get it sooner.

3 comments

  • Localfluff

    “Summary: Both rovers have moved little in the past month,”
    So, who is afraid that a $3 billion rover robot operated by a whole team, will take your job? To mix in that absurd economic “debate” against automation and robotization into this.

    I don’t see Curiosity swear and go getting the sledge hammer to get the stuff fit in the corner, like every craftsman does. It doesn’t even cleanse its little drill from that grain of sand that blocks it. Helpless little robot, and some people think that it is the Skynet end of our civilization. I think we are born with a compartment in our brains that WANT to believe that, and any other doomsday myth, and that some are worse than others to contain this primitive instinct.

  • Andrew

    What happened to Mars:

    Prophetically, in his book, “Worlds in Collision” Immanuel Velikovsky

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immanuel_Velikovsky

    stated, well before any probe had ever landed there, that Mars would a ruined world, that there would be no civilization there and precious little water. His explanation of why, based on interpretations of myth and folklore, created one of the more miserable episodes in academic tyranny, The Velikovsky Affair, spoken of in the above article.

    I believe his work deserves a revisit. It is all very good reading, well written and well sourced. No one has ever been able to any more to his theory than the usual cheap “debunking” seen in the treatment of UFO sightings. Check them out if for no other reason than they are fun.

    https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_10/133-9971760-2948515?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=immanuel+velikovsky+books&sprefix=Immanuel+V%2Caps%2C146&crid=10RQUI3G11PJX

  • Andrew

    apologies:

    I hurried my post and left out odd bits of words.

Readers: the rules for commenting!

 

No registration is required. I welcome all opinions, even those that strongly criticize my commentary.

 

However, name-calling and obscenities will not be tolerated. First time offenders who are new to the site will be warned. Second time offenders or first time offenders who have been here awhile will be suspended for a week. After that, I will ban you. Period.

 

Note also that first time commenters as well as any comment with more than one link will be placed in moderation for my approval. Be patient, I will get to it.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *