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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.


Assembling a Boeing 737

An evening pause: I might have posted this before, but who cares. Modern engineering and smart production management is always nice to watch.

Hat tip Phill Oltmann.

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

7 comments

  • C Cecil

    Mr Z, how is the hat tip done on your site?

  • Joe

    The most produced modern airliner ever, great aircraft!
    It has been in production for over 50 years and still has orders.
    http://www.b737.org.uk/production.htm

  • LocalFluff

    And disassembly of an aircraft. Rotting like a dead corpse in the African heat, to the benefit of the decomposers.
    https://youtu.be/euMDJMf2AJY?t=54

  • Joe

    LocalFluff, thought of this exact clip before I clicked the link!

  • wayne

    C Cecil–

    If I may– If you would like to submit suggestions for the evening-pause, just go to the ‘About’ page at this site, Mr. Z’s email address is at the bottom of the text.

    Use the Search-box in the right-hand column, to check if your suggested vids have already been posted in the past.

  • Edward

    If you ever get into the Seattle area, there is a nice tour of the Boeing manufacturing plant in Everett.
    http://www.boeing.com/company/tours/

    There are several other aviation related museums, including the Museum of Flight and a Paul Allen collection of airplanes.

    Joe,
    The 737 is a great aircraft and is still wildly popular. Your link says that Boeing is ramping up production to 57 per month in hopes of clearing out the backlog of 4,400 orders. That is a six and a half year backlog.

    However, it is not the longest running production airplane. The C-130 was first flown in the mid 1950s, and the last I heard they are still building 6 per year. The C-130 is useful but not quite as popular as the 737.

  • C Cecil: I am not sure what you are asking. If you wish to donate or subscribe, there is a tip jar in the right column of my webpage. If you wish to contribute suggestions for an evening pause, say so here, and I will email you how to forward your suggestion to me. Do not post the link to your suggestion here, as I will then not be able to schedule it later.

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