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Readers!

 

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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Armadillo Aerospace closes down.

The competition cools down: Armadillo Aerospace closes down.

It is important to recognize that developing a new private industry is not easy, and that many more companies will fail than succeed. That reality, however, does not prove that freedom and private enterprise are bad ideas, merely that they carry great risks.

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

8 comments

  • R. Cotour

    Elon Musk has it down right, first become a multi billionaire and then start a space company. It gives you a lot more room to maneuver and a vast array of options.

  • Edward

    I am truly sorry to see that Armadillo is in such trouble. They are one of the companies that I have been hoping would do great things.

  • wodun

    Musk runs SpaceX as a business not a personally funded hacker space. It sounds like Armadillo has turned down work in order to focus on their main goal. Which is a mistake. Take a look at SpaceX whose main goal is passage to Mars. The services they supply today wont get you to Mars but keep the cash flow incoming so that Mars enabling technologies can be developed. Similar to some of these new asteroid mining companies whose first products will be satellites and the mining doesn’t happen until some time later.

  • joe

    (At the risk of butchering this) I am going to call this the invisible hand of creative destruction, add in a dash of crony capitalism and all bets are off, it seems as though he is a little underfunded in this arena. R Cotour is correct on this one, their is a saying in aviation that says in order to become a millionaire in aviation you must first start with ten million!

  • R. Cotour

    Its funny how the investment community pays attention to proven and tested billionaires interested in creating new businesses. Nothing like extreme previous success to attract investment to a new venture. Cash flow is always the prime directive. No real cash flow at some point down the line, no bills paid, put the key in the door.

    Musk succeeds in vision and implementation.

  • R. Cotour

    “correct on this one” Joe?

    You will also be remembering me, my observations and my conclusions at some point in the future Joe. http://youtu.be/1bSiHIxMMD8

  • Steve C

    A company named Armadillo was bound to get run over.

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