Scroll down to read this post.

 

Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. I keep the website clean from pop-ups and annoying demands. Instead, I depend entirely on my readers to support me. Though this means I am sacrificing some income, it also means that I remain entirely independent from outside pressure. By depending solely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, no one can threaten me with censorship. You don't like what I write, you can simply go elsewhere.

 

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.


SpaceX sets February 6 for first Falcon Heavy launch attempt

Capitalism in space: SpaceX has now scheduled February 6 as the date for its first attempt to launch its Falcon Heavy rocket.

I was amused by this tidbit from the article:

While a launch date has been set, the company still faces a regulatory obstacle ahead of the launch. The Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation has not yet issued a launch license for the Falcon Heavy, a requirement for a commercial launch such as this. Such licenses are often issued days ahead of a launch.

I dare the FAA to deny this launch a license. I just dare them.

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 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

9 comments

  • Joe From Houston

    We will see the battle for access to space right here, right now. It is long overdue.

  • ken anthony

    The moment the govt. says no, Elon will break ground on a new facility.

  • Michael

    No license no launch – new facility or no

  • wodun

    This will be the first SpaceX launch that I will go out of my way to watch for a long time. There is a lot of drama in the first flights/landings but there is also a lot of schedule slippage that makes trying to watch one a crap shoot. I am prepared for there to be no launch.

  • ken anthony

    Michael, there are plenty of island countries that would love to have their own space program. No licence just takes the FAA out of the picture.

    Govt. has its place. What most don’t realize is that place is not to tell us what we can or can’t do. England learned that lesson in 1776. America is working hard to relearn that lesson today (with more powerful fireworks.)

    CA is working on their 1860 lesson.

  • wayne

    ken–
    ref; “CA is working on their 1860 lesson.”
    >Good stuff!

    Alanis Morissette –
    Ironic
    https://youtu.be/Jne9t8sHpUc

  • Michael

    Ken

    This is true with respect to island countries. That’s where ITAR comes in.

    Don’t get me wrong. I am a strong supporter of SpaceX. I do not trust the government, to include NASA. SpaceX (and some others) is on the verge of making NASA irrelevant with the exception of unmanned science and planetary type missions, and maybe technology development.

    NASA is starting to become aware of this and bureaucracies will do anything to survive.

    I sometimes think that NASA should go back to the NACA model.

    I think we agree in the essentials but I guess I maybe be more paranoid that you.

  • Mike Borgelt

    yes, NASA needs to be NASRO – National Aero Space Research Office for technology development and another organisation called Office of Solar System Exploration – OSSE

  • ken anthony

    Right Mike, but remember, it ain’t really paranoia if they really are out to get ya!

    Watch what entirely predictable happens on mars. First they don’t care. Then when people make it valuable hey’ll claim to own it (for all of mankind’s bureaucrats.)

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 *