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Readers!

 

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.

 

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.

 

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Endeavour lands safely

Endeavour lands safely, for the last time.

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

One comment

  • From my blog:

    Coming Home

    I watched the landing of space shuttle Endeavor last night, although it was probably past the bedtime of folks on the East Coast. The broadcast started with the ground track representation, and when it passed over the Florida coast I was reminded of a time I was awakened by the double sonic boom of the spacecraft passing overhead. It’s louder than you might think.

    When the shuttle passed through about 40,000 feet the view switched to a camera looking through the pilots HUD. This was pretty neat, except it was night and all you could see was the HUD and a lot of black, but you could read the various displays, and get an idea of just how fast the craft falls. When the commander called the runway, all that was visible was a litttle point of light in the distance. After a period of time the approach lights appeared very quickly. They were suddenly Right There, with the shuttle lined up dead on the centerline. The view then switched to a runway IR camera. You could see that the underside, and especially the nose cap, were still very warm from re-entry. When the landing gear deployed the tires were dark and cold, but got bright very quickly after touchdown as they heated up.

    I was most surprised by what looked like a fire coming out of the fuselage just forward of the vertical fin right after the ‘chute was deployed. NASA didn’t seem concerned about it. The announcer got around to mentioning that it was the APU exhaust, but I wasn’t too sure. The view was still in IR, and this wasn’t some thermal plume; this was flames spurting out of an opening on the hull, making a noise usually associated with a Roman candle. Well, it didn’t blow up.

    She’s been a good ship. Welcome home.

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