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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.

 

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New evidence suggest lake once existed in Gale Crater

Scientists have concluded that mineral veins seen by Curiosity in Gale Crater were created when a lake existed there.

The study suggests that the veins formed as the sediments from the ancient lake were buried, heated to about 50 degrees Celsius and corroded. Professor John Bridges from the University of Leicester Department of Physics and Astronomy said: “The taste of this Martian groundwater would be rather unpleasant, with about 20 times the content of sulphate and sodium than bottled mineral water for instance!”

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

3 comments

  • Localfluff

    Mars stinks like rotten eggs. I don’t think bottled Martian water will become a big seller on Earth (but who knows, people are crazy). It might however become a successful consumer product on the local Martian market, since it doesn’t have any competitors. You’ll get used to the stench and stop thinking about it, I understand this is how we react to sulfates, it numbs our nose. Just very surprising for your guests.

  • Phil Veerkamp

    Bob, I have sent the following email to the lead scientists who wrote this paper – – –
    http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/press/press-releases/2016/august/veins-on-mars-were-formed-by-evaporating-ancient-lakes

    Any bets on reply(s)?
    =================================
    Susanne and John,

    My name is Phillip Veerkamp.  I am a 72-year-old retired un-credentialed “astrobiology hobbyist”.  I have zero scientific reputation at stake.  I am absolutely free to jump to wild conclusions.

    In the past few days Curiosity has returned  pictures from at least two “brushed” rocks from the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) images for Sol 1416 – http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?s=1416&camera=MAHLI

    AND:

    Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) images for Sol 1418 – http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?s=1418&camera=MAHLI

    My meager geology training says that there is one and ONLY one explanation for naturally occurring fibers in mudstone – BIOLOGICAL.

    I say we are looking at an ancient Martian “peat bog” [rough analogue].

    What say you?  J

    I do not expect you guys to risk your reputations through casual speculation, but can you comment? . . . safely?

    Kindest regards,

    Phil Veerkamp

  • You might get a reply, but it will be something likely along the lines that we doubt that is the case, but we are looking at these features very closely. And I would not expect them to say much more than that, at this point, if that.

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