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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.


Successful launch today of Cygnus freighter to ISS

Capitalism in space: Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket today successfully launched it Cygnus unmanned cargo capsule on a supply mission to ISS.

This was Northrop Grumman’s first flight in 2020. The standings in the 2020 launch race:

3 China
2 SpaceX
1 Arianespace (Europe)
1 Rocket Lab
1 Russia
1 Japan
1 ULA
1 Northrop Grumman

The U.S. now leads China 5 to 3 in the national rankings. The U.S. will likely add to that lead with the planned SpaceX launch of another 60 Starlink satellites Monday.

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

  • sippin_bourbon

    So, serious question, did NASA buy this flight, as a customer?
    Serious question.
    The way I read things, it is, but look to be sure.

    If so, then then US (as a governement entity) is not leading.
    Free market non-government companies, only fully possible in the United States, are leading.

  • sippin_bourbon: By george I’ve thing you’ve got it!

    This is exactly what is happening, as I have been suggesting for more than twenty years. Slowly NASA is transitioning from building and owning things (and doing a bad job) to becoming a customer looking for the best and most efficiently priced products. Or as you say, “Free market non-government companies, only fully possible in the United States, are leading.”

    You are relatively new here. Spend some time reading old posts. Read Capitalism in Space. You will see this path outlined and proposed years before.

  • I should add that Adam Smith said it all way before I did, back in 1776.

  • David K

    I believe Adam Smith was a fierce critic of the British Empire’s manned space program in the 18th century – they never got anything off the ground!

    On the other hand, they accomplished some brave and heroic things in planetary sciences – they led expeditions to circumnavigate the world and take important astronomical measurements.

  • Scott M.

    Congratulations to Northrop Grumman on their successful launch! Their webcast could definitely use some SpaceX mojo, however. There were some weird audio cross-talk right as the Cygnus reached orbit.

  • Michael Schnieders

    Scott, I’m glad you brought that up. My wife and I watched the live feed and we thought that we were watching the official NASA feed on YouTube, but we got a bit confused when there was a Verizon recording stating that a call could not be completed. Did anyone else see/hear that?

  • Michael Schnieders: Several times during the NASA feed someone comes on to state loudly that the feed from some phone line needs to be muted. It appears no one ever heard that, and didn’t realize they were broadcasting.

    This happens a lot on conference calls. People don’t realize they aren’t muted, have no way of telling, and send background sounds (typing, chatter, etc) into the feed.

    I suspect however that the person who failed to mute their feed line at Northrop Grumman heard about it very clearly soon thereafter. It made them look unprofessional.

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