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The time has come for my annual short Thanksgiving/Christmas fund drive for Behind The Black. I must do this every year in order to make sure I have earned enough money to pay my bills.

 

For this two-week campaign, I am offering a special deal to encourage donations. Donations of $200 will get a free autographed copy of the new paperback edition of Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8, while donations of $250 will get a free autographed copy of the new hardback edition. If you desire a copy, make sure you provide me your address with your donation.

 

As I noted in July, the support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.

 

In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.

 

Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.

 

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SpaceX seeking $250 million more in investment capital

Capitalism in space: According to anonymous sources, SpaceX is once again seeking more investment capital, this time totaling $250 million.

Last year the company raised $1.33 billion. While not as much as the personal cash that Jeff Bezos has raised for Blue Origin by selling his personal Amazon stock, it has been enough for SpaceX to accomplish far more. Not only is the company about to launch its first manned mission, it has quickly begun assembling its Starlink internet constellation in orbit, while pushing forward on Starship construction.

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

5 comments

  • Col Beausaber

    Does Warren Buffet own any SpaxeX…..

  • Col Beausabre: Unknown. SpaceX is not selling public stock. It is selling private stock, or acquiring investment capital. I am no expert on these financial matters, but regardless the investors are not publicly. I doubt Buffet is one of them.

  • Bob B

    They do this not to raise money but to give an $evaluation that/and allows employees to sell stock since they cannot on public market. Every employee is a stock holder which means nothing if you can never cash in.

  • Wodun

    They do have some stock owned by the public in the form of a couple investment funds through prudential, IIRC.

  • Dick Eagleson

    Bob B,

    Fresh equity investment always provides a hard valuation for a company’s total worth and, therefore, the value of its individual shares. But there are well-established means of determining share value pretty well even in the absence of a recent equity infusion. There are specialized financial services firms that make such determinations for privately-held companies so that their stock-owning managers and employees are able to sell vested shares at certain times of the year. I believe SpaceX has such opportunities scheduled at least twice per year.

    Wodun,

    The only financial services company I know of with SpaceX shares on its books is Fidelity. It made a $100 million investment in SpaceX about five years ago. That stake is probably worth north of $1 billion by now. Google has also done nicely on its $900 million SpaceX investment made at the same time as Fidelity’s. That likely more than makes up for some other space-related Google investments that didn’t work out so well.

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