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Readers!

 

My July fund-raising campaign to celebrate the fifteenth anniversary since I began Behind the Black is now over. I want to thank all those who so generously donated or subscribed, especially those who have become regular supporters. I can't do this without your help. I also find it increasingly hard to express how much your support means to me. God bless you all!

 

The donations during this year's campaign were sadly less than previous years, but for this I blame myself. I am tired of begging for money, and so I put up the campaign announcement at the start of the month but had no desire to update it weekly to encourage more donations, as I have done in past years. This lack of begging likely contributed to the drop in donations.

 

No matter. I am here, and here I intend to stay. If you like what I do and have not yet donated or subscribed, please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four 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 or subscription:

 

4. 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.


Rocket Lab successfully completes third commercial launch in 2019

Capitalism in space: Rocket Lab today successfully completed its third commercial launch in 2019, putting seven smallsats into orbit.

If you go to about 21 minutes into the video at the link you can watch the launch.

Rocket Lab is slowly shifting towards its goal of one launch per month leading to two launches per month by the end of the year. That this single somewhat tiny U.S. company (with many ties in New Zealand) now ties the nation of India, the world’s most populous democracy, and has more launches than well-established U.S. launch companies like ULA and Northrop Grumman speaks, volumes about the power of freedom and competition.

The leaders in the 2019 launch standings:

9 China
8 SpaceX
5 Russia
5 Europe (Arianespace)
3 India
3 Rocket Lab

The U.S. now leads China in the national rankings 14 to 9.

This will likely be the last launch in June. We are now at the year’s halfway point. The total number of launches in 2019 is 37, down from the 2018 count of 54. This suggests that the totals for entire year will also be less, but we shall see. As expected the drop is mostly due to fewer big satellite launches. However, if the smallsat launch companies begin to ramp up this year, as they have predicted, they could make up the difference.

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

2 comments

Readers: the rules for commenting!

 

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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.

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