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Readers!

 

The time has come for my annual short pre-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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November 6, 2023 Quick space links

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

 

 

 

 

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

4 comments

  • Paul Revere

    SpaceX is optimistic that they will be able to get the second launch of starship completed in November..

    “SpaceX announced on Friday that the company is targeting “mid-November” for the second flight test of the Super Heavy rocket and its Starship upper stage.

    “The company said the launch date is pending regulatory approval, which means that the Federal Aviation Administration and US Fish and Wildlife Service have yet to complete the environmental review process for the rocket and its launch site, which is surrounded by wetlands, in South Texas.

    “Even so, the SpaceX announcement indicates that the company believes it may soon receive this regulatory approval. This is consistent with what sources have told Ars—that federal approval for the second launch of Starship is close to wrapping up.

    https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/11/its-almost-showtime-for-spacexs-massive-starship-rocket/

  • Paul Revere: This story is essentially a cut and paste of stories from September and October. All said “SpaceX is optimistic it will get permission for a second launch in [Sept] or [Oct].”

    SpaceX has to play nice so as to not antagonize the paper-pushers that now control its life. What I find annoying are the reporters who play nice too, treating these bureaucrats like gods, when they are nothing more than interfering busybodies making believe they are gods. What’s worse is that they are simply not qualified to judge the safety of anything SpaceX is doing.

    It could be the launch will happen in November. I remain doubtful, though I know SpaceX is ready to go the instant it gets an okay. Won’t change anything I’ve written. SpaceX was ready to go in early September. The government pushed that launch back more than two months, and without any public pressure I am certain would have pushed it back longer.

    Under these conditions SpaceX cannot develop Starship in a manner that is practical or cost effective.

  • GeorgeC

    A funny thing about the China methane fueled engine is that it is just a gas generator cycle, so it gains nothing special over using RP1 fuel. Like it is a stunt.

  • GeorgeC:

    They got it up there, and proved the technology. A stunt, perhaps, but a useful one.

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