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The time has come for my annual short Thanksgiving/Christmas fund drive for Behind The Black. I must do this every year in order to make sure I have earned enough money to pay my bills.

 

For this two-week campaign, I am offering a special deal to encourage donations. Donations of $200 will get a free autographed copy of the new paperback edition of Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8, while donations of $250 will get a free autographed copy of the new hardback edition. If you desire a copy, make sure you provide me your address with your donation.

 

As I noted in July, 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. 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.

 

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.

 

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A Juno movie of cloud motions

Cool image time! Citizen scientist Gerald Eichstädt, using twelve Juno images, has compiled a short gif movie that shows a tiny amount of cloud movement.

I think this is one of the first times Juno has show us even a tiny bit of cloud evolution, information that is essential for gaining a true understanding of Jupiter’s slightly less than 2000 mile deep atmosphere. To see it, go to the link. As Eichstadt notes, “Individual images are noisy, but we see cloud motion.”

When you watch, zoom in on the upper right quarter. This is the area that the cloud motion is seen best.

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

3 comments

  • Localfluff

    It’s funny that just looking at a planet (visited seven times before) from a new angle, would give such a surprising view.

    The depth of the atmosphere of 2,500 km is global average. Local storms might have deeper roots. They will try to detect that from gravitational measurements above the red spot. It’s kind of bad news that the atmosphere is isolated from the inner. Now it is even more inaccessible than expected.

  • Max

    Atmosphere nearly 2000 miles thick!
    Thicker atmosphere means higher temperatures. Wikipedia has already begun adjusting their numbers from 16,000 to 17,500°F at transition phase, core temperature from 50,000 to 65,000°F.
    Keep in mind, the surface of the sun (photosphere) is 9500°F, the temperature under Jupiters atmosphere is not only hot enough to melt any metal or substance, it’s hot enough to strip electrons from atoms creating a layer of plasma which is probably what’s driving the storms, and magnetic field.

  • Max

    I forgot to include the best part. If you hooked up to wires to a battery and place them on each side of a glass of water, you can make hydrogen and oxygen. ( I prefer 2 car batteries with a dash of salt in the water)
    Throw in some pepper, or dirt to watch the currents made near the anode and cathode. (The paper clips holding the wires) Now place a speaker magnet under the glass, all the water in the glass will now start to rotate. Flip the magnet over and the water will rotate in the opposite direction. Put the magnet on its side, and 2 vortices will begin to circulate. Place the magnet on the side of the glass, and the vortice will move to circulate from top to bottom stirring up the settlement.
    Point being, all you need is a current flow inside of a magnetic field to create a spinning storm. The higher the pH of the atmosphere, the more violent the storm.

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