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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.


Long March 4C launches Earth observation satellite

China today used its Long March 4C rocket to launch a new Earth observation satellite into orbit.

No word on whether the first stage had parachutes or grid fins to control is crash landing in the Chinese interior.

The 2022 launch race:

3 SpaceX
2 China
1 Virgin Orbit
1 ULA

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

  • So far this number of launches makes for a great start to the 2022 launch year. Two more launches planned this week as well. Love it.

  • BtB’s Original Mark

    The Chinese Olympic Games are upcoming, so each Chinese launch is an opportunity to highlight the dangers of a CCP led China.

    I ask all BehindTheBlackers to consider Boycotting watching the Olympics, and to explain to family and friends why you are personally doing that. Reasons can include the Chinese malfeasance of the Wuhan Lab leak, the Internments and Repression of Uyghurs, and to show the CCP that Americans will not ignore that they having been waging low level war against us.

    Also please consider clicking on the below link and making a stand with Petitions and Emails to your political representatives:

    https://genocidegames.org/

    For more information on the conventional, ideological, and existential threats emanating from the CCP, check out the website of the Committee on the Present Danger: China.
    https://presentdangerchina.org/

    In addition, we can slow financial flows to China by supporting those politicians that support economic decoupling. Here is an op-Ed by Senate candidate David McCormick:

    https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/americas-leaders-chinas-communist-party-dave-mccormick

    I hope you’ll join me in all of the above.

  • Jay

    BtB’s Original Mark,
    I agree with you. Of course I always boycott the games due to NBC’s terrible coverage.

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