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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
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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.


September 27, 2022 Quick space links

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, who trolls Twitter so I don’t have to.

I will believe it when it actually happens.

Just a cool image.

More specifically, the “Crimean Federal District which will include Crimea and the occupied territories of Donbass, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.” If so, Rogozin’s head is essentially being put on the block. Ukrainian partisan forces have been very successful at killing such leaders.

I guess this is a reward by Putin for Rogozin’s skill at losing Russia billions in commercial satellite sales.

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

  • Ray Van Dune

    Rumor has it Putin had convinced Bezos to put Rogozin in charge of getting the BE-4 into high-rate production. But when he saw the design, Putin relented and put him in charge of occupied Ukraine instead. Putin reportedly said “Sure, I’m a stone-cold killer, but I just couldn’t do it to the poor guy!”

  • Jeff Wright

    Ha! In lighter news-it looks like a book is in the works on AMT’s best seller:

    https://culttvman.com/main/amts-enterprise-at-55/
    Do a search on “Shaw’s AMT model drawings” and you will find a great drawing of it-Jay Chaldek has a good write-up.

    The Kerr/Casimiro drawings of the 11 foot filming model are top notch.

  • Agenor

    I don’t really get the “Where are my engine, Jeff?” thing that is somewhat going on. Yes, there were delays, but it happens. New Glenn was announced in 2016, same year as Starship.
    Up to this day, none of them reached an Orbit. But that is also true for Ariane 6 and H3, all rockets “from” 2016 with a NET-launch in 2020.
    In late 2018 BO was making it clear that New Glenn won’t fly in 2020. One year later (end of September 2019) E Musk was still talking of doing Orbital Test with the MK-series in half a year (April 2020). Again, none of them were able to reach an Orbit until now. But BO was way more realistic and open about their delays, which is striking because they don’t talk much compared to SpaceX.
    The other point is that normally rockets fly for several decades. The Atlas 5, Delta 4, Ariane 6, H-II, Proton… so another 3 months of delays are bad, but not the end of the world. Probably they will still be used for quite some time.
    I see it this way. If SpaceX for some reason would fall apart (or Starship is nowhere near as an all-rounder as hoped), we would still get a Vulcan that is partially reusable and has some advantages over a falcon 9 (not in every category but they exist). And we get an overall better version of a Falcon Heavy with New Glenn. The expensive days of Atlas 5 and Delta 4 are gone.

    I’m looking forward to all “paper” rockets, knowing very well that some companies will fail, and some won’t have a big impact on the field.
    Every month with get new delays, it is unavoidable. So let’s celebrate the good news. I’m mean, the good news (progress) are the one keeping use interested and exited for this.

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