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Readers! A November fund-raising drive!

 

It is unfortunately time for another November fund-raising campaign to support my work here at Behind the Black. I really dislike doing these, but 2025 is so far turning out to be a very poor year for donations and subscriptions, the worst since 2020. I very much need your support for this webpage to survive.

 

And I think I provide real value. Fifteen years ago I said SLS was garbage and should be cancelled. Almost a decade ago I said Orion was a lie and a bad idea. As early as 1998, long before almost anyone else, I predicted in my first book, Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8, that private enterprise and freedom would conquer the solar system, not government. Very early in the COVID panic and continuing throughout I noted that every policy put forth by the government (masks, social distancing, lockdowns, jab mandates) was wrong, misguided, and did more harm than good. In planetary science, while everyone else in the media still thinks Mars has no water, I have been reporting the real results from the orbiters now for more than five years, that Mars is in fact a planet largely covered with ice.

 

I could continue with numerous other examples. If you want to know what others will discover a decade hence, read what I write here at Behind the Black. And if you read my most recent book, Conscious Choice, you will find out what is going to happen in space in the next century.

 

 

This last claim might sound like hubris on my part, but I base it on my overall track record.

 

So please consider donating or subscribing to Behind the Black, either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. I could really use the support at this time. 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. Takes about a 10% cut.
 

3. A Paypal Donation or subscription, which takes about a 15% cut:

 

4. Donate by check. I get whatever you donate. Make the check payable to Robert Zimmerman and mail it 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.


Eye update

Since so many readers asked, here is a short update on my eye surgery. I saw the doctor again today, and he says all looks good. For me, however, use of the right eye is presently difficult if not impossible. For the moment the eye is covered with a patch, as it hurts too much to use it. In addition, bright lights make both eyes hurt. I find I can only read the computer screen if the room is dark.

Posting should continue, but it will be at a slower pace until the right eye recovers more.

Thanks again to everyone who has expressed their good wishes. I truly appreciate it.

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 or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. 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

  • Alton

    Good luck! I dropped both retinas, five surgeries later have one eye operating. Whenlater you get the first black spot in your left eye near your nose, go right then and have it fixed. Better outcomes do occur when action is taken soonest! I know the hard way!

    ALTON

  • Alton

    Love the easy captcha,
    usually these pass systems drive me batty with my repaired eyes,
    very hard to decypther.

    Alton

  • joe

    best wishes for the new year and a speedy recovery!

  • Hi Alton,

    The symptoms you describe match what happened to me in January. They injected a gas bubble into my eye, I kept my head positioned appropriately for a couple of days, and lo and behold, the retina reattached.

    Unfortunately, this time the detachment was at a difficult spot in the eyeball. As my doctor said, I’d have to stand on my head to position the bubble properly. They had no choice but to insert a scleral buckle, which was done yesterday morning. It apparently has worked, but the recovery is harder and more difficult.

    The fortunate thing about this particular detachment is that it was found before I had seen any symptoms. A routine eye doctor visit spotted it, and thus it was treated before it could do serious harm.

  • John M. Egan

    I hope you are feeling better, Robert.

  • PeterF

    Best wishes, Get well soon! Without your eyesight you won’t be able to see the wonderful pictures we’ve been getting from the brave little robots spreading throughout the solar system.

  • D K Rögnvald Williams

    They drive me batty with relatively good vision.

  • Joe Kopser

    Bob, best wishes for a speedy (and complete!) recovery. I truly enjoy listening to you during your appearances on the John Batchelor show.

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